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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23856724">Do it with Style! Clothes, Alcohol &amp; Sex</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/taengoo1/pseuds/taengoo1'>taengoo1</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Legacies (TV 2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hope is a huge bitch at first, Hosie Endgame</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:49:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>74,244</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23856724</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/taengoo1/pseuds/taengoo1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When people look at Hope Mikaelson, they see an elegant young woman who always keeps up with the newest trends and who definitely knows how to be stylish, a role model that every girl today looks up to. To everyone, the 26-year-old founder and creative director of Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson, a very successful fashion line, appears absolutely perfect with her beautiful clothes and dazzling hairstyles. But what they don’t know is that Hope has been hooking up with a different person every week for the past year and has become so addicted to alcohol that she can't even choose which she enjoys more - that delicious beverage or hot sex on the desk in her office.  To her, men have become objects that are meant for pleasure only, nothing else.  This all happened due to a traumatizing event that took place in her life, one that made her go down the wrong path and give up on love completely. But all of that changes when one day she accidentally meets a tall brunette named Josie Saltzman in one of her clothing stores, the only person who finally manages to break through the barriers that the ice princess has put up and soothe her aching heart.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hope Mikaelson &amp; Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>191</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>430</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Since I successfully managed to turn my other fic Be My Dirty Little Secret into a Hosie fic, I've decided to do the same thing with my two other k-pop fanfics (they're both posted on Asianfanfics btw). This is one of them. It's an enemies to friends to lovers fic where Hope is a huge bitch at the beginning. There's gonna be lots of drama, so stay tuned. :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hope stirred in her sleep, her head turning from one side to the other, eyebrows furrowing and small whimpers escaping her mouth. She was having it again, that same nightmare that she’d have almost every single night. It was always the same – two cars crashing into each other, blood dripping down her face. Hope would then look to her right and see her boyfriend passed out, red liquid covering part of his cheekbone and his eyes closed as if he was soundly sleeping. The auburn-haired girl would scream for him to wake up, to give her some sign that he’s alive, but it was all pointless and she knew that because he was already dead. Still, despite everything, she’d continue screaming. Then the scenery would change in just mere seconds and she would be outside the vehicle. Panicking, Hope would look around and she’d gasp in shock at the sight of the second car. Every part of it was smashed because it had gone off the road and fallen down from the cliff. Through the broken windshield the auburn-haired girl could clearly see her mother and father’s dead bodies.</p><p>“No, don’t leave me!” Hope screamed as she woke up from her sleep, just like how she always did. Sweat was dripping down her whole body and the girl was panting heavily. She turned on the lamp that was on her nightstand and buried her face in her hands, then began sobbing silently.</p><p>The nightmare she had just had was because of a traumatic event that occurred exactly one year and thirty-two days ago, on July 26<sup>th</sup> 2019 – a day that would forever be engraved in her memory because that was when she lost both her parents and her boyfriend Roman in a car crash.</p><p>July 26<sup>th</sup> was the day on which her friend Nicole had decided to have her wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony, the bride and groom looked absolutely amazing, there were so many guests present and Hope couldn’t help but feel extremely happy for her friend. She was even the one to catch the bouquet of flowers that the bride threw which meant that she and Roman were going to be the next couple to tie the knot. During the reception, though, Hope wasn’t feeling very well. It was probably because of the food she had eaten, so she and her boyfriend decided to return to their shared apartment earlier than planned.</p><p>On the way home, unfortunately, she and Roman had a huge fight in the car about getting married. Hope wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, to start a family with this man that she loved so much, but apparently he wasn’t up for such a huge commitment and told her that they both weren’t ready for such a big step, that they were still way too young and have their whole lives ahead of them. Of course, being the stubborn woman that she is, Hope wasn’t going to accept his refusal and kept trying to convince him, insisting that it was the best idea. Roman became furious because of his girlfriend’s behavior which made him loose concentration while driving and of course, that resulted in a tragic event to occur. They hit an upcoming vehicle that both of them didn’t see coming because they were too distracted and that was it. In just mere seconds, Death took three lives from this world. Unfortunately, it turned out later that the people in the other car were Hope’s parents who were heading for the restaurant where the wedding reception was held. Because of the girl’s mother’s obsession of being absolutely perfect in every way, the married couple were a few hours late. Who would’ve known that if she had been ready only a few minutes earlier, the accident might’ve been avoided and three human lives could have been spared?</p><p>Somehow Hope was the only one that survived the crash that day, but many times she wished that she hadn’t. The traumatic experience left many internal scars and the girl closed herself to everyone, even to her own aunt Freya, who at the time of the accident was in New Orleans, working as a lecturer at one of the most prestigious universities. Hope wanted to forget everything and she tried so hard not to think about it, but every single day, the memory of the crash would appear in her mind, making her go crazy. She blamed herself for distracting Roman while driving. Oh how she wished that she hadn’t pushed his buttons, that she hadn’t kept insisting. Because of her, three wonderful people that she cared so much about were gone from this world. She thought that maybe this was her punishment and they were taken away from her because she didn’t deserve them.</p><p>Since that day, Hope gave up on love completely since she knew that she wasn’t supposed to experience that feeling again. She wasn’t fated to be happy and that’s why she put barriers around herself, keeping everyone from getting close to her. She feared that if she didn’t do that, if she were to fall in love again, fate would only take that person from her again.</p><p>Hope glanced at the clock that was also on the nightstand and saw that it was 4 AM. She knew that she had to go back to sleep because she had to get to work at seven, but she was afraid that she’d have that nightmare again. A long sigh left the auburn-haired girl’s mouth as soon as she lied down again, her head hitting the soft fluffy pillow. Hope stared at the ceiling and began thinking of everything again. She remembered moments with her parents, the cute dates that she’d have with Roman and once again, tears began forming in her beautiful blue eyes, making the image of the ceiling with its lights and fancy decorations blurry. Some time after, Hope’s eyes began closing on their own and the girl went off to dreamland.</p><p>A few hours later, the auburn-haired girl was awoken by her alarm clock and its loud ringing. Groaning, she slowly opened her eyes and turned off the annoying thing. She was a sleep lover that girl and each morning she wanted to break that damn alarm clock or throw it out the window, but she restrained her emotions because she knew that she had to act like a lady about this. That meant that whenever it would ring in the morning, she had to turn it off gracefully and like an elegant woman, get out of bed without complaining and begin getting ready for work. So of course, Hope then made her way to the bathroom, took a quick shower, applied all sorts of expensive products on her skin, did her hair after she blow-dried it, and a few minutes afterwards, chose the most beautiful and stylish dress she had so she could arrive at her workplace like a princess. As soon as she put her clothes on and was appropriately dressed, she opened her cabinet, revealing a large makeup kit that had absolutely everything a girl would want. Carefully, she then did her makeup in the most perfect way possible and smiled in satisfaction at the result.</p><p>“Ohh, I am so beautiful!” Hope said as she looked at herself in the mirror and perked her lips. “Maybe I should take a picture like this!”</p><p>The auburn-haired girl then took her phone and turned on its camera app, then as soon as she adjusted the settings to her liking, she snapped a couple of selfies. Okay, they were actually more than a couple. She took about fifty photos of herself in the span of only two or three minutes. Hope looked through them afterwards and thought that she looked absolutely fabulous in each and every single one of them. The only problem was that she could upload only one on her Instagram account because she didn’t want to spoil her followers with too many pictures of herself. After carefully analyzing every photo, Hope finally managed to choose the perfect one. That was what she usually did before uploading something. She had to analyze every detail of the photo – how her hair looked, if her head seemed too big or her face looked weird. There had to be absolutely no imperfections shown in the picture. With a wide smile on her face, the girl then put it up on the social media site a minute or so later for everyone to see.</p><p><a id="_GoBack" name="_GoBack"></a> <span>Her hair looked a little brown, but that was because of all the instagram filters she applied and due to the changes in the contrast she made. She would usually do that in order to appear as if she changes her hair color every week. </span></p><p>After a few more minutes, the elegant woman gracefully made her way out of her room with her expensive phone in one hand and designer handbag hanging from the crook of her arm. She was also wearing some stylish sunglasses that she herself designed, making the girl seem like the most famous and well-known person in the world.</p><p>As soon as she stepped foot inside the living-room, she noticed her aunt Freya lying on the couch and reading some kind of magazine. The two had been living together in a large apartment situated in the center of Mystic Falls ever since the accident.</p><p>“I made you some pancakes,” Freya told Hope without looking at her as soon as she felt her presence, the girl’s eyes never leaving the magazine in her hands because she was reading some interesting article.</p><p>“Eat them by yourself. I’ll grab something at work,” the auburn-haired girl replied coldly and began walking towards the door. Freya rolled her eyes because of her niece’s response. She disliked the person that the girl had become so much and wished with all her heart that Hope would go back to normal and become that sweet niece she grew to love so much. But a year had passed and she was still this cold-hearted bitch who only cared about her fashion line, appearance, how many bottles of alcohol she could drink and finding a man to sleep with every week.</p><p>“Whatever…” Freya muttered under her breath and continued reading the article while Hope put on her expensive shoes and left the apartment without so much as saying goodbye to the older woman.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Hope Mikaelson stepped foot inside her company’s building and immediately, every single one of her employees bowed as soon as they saw her. The girl smirked at the sight of so many people worshiping her and then began making her way to her office, each step she took more graceful than the one before.</p><p>“Good morning, Miss Mikaelson!” a few people said politely as Hope walked passed them. They wanted to be on her good side because they needed this job and couldn’t afford getting fired.</p><p>“You look absolutely gorgeous!” Some employees complimented the girl, making her smile in satisfaction. She loved hearing these kinds of things because each day she would put a lot of effort in order for her clothes and makeup to be perfect, so it felt nice to know that people appreciated it.</p><p>“Alyssa, is my coffee ready?” Hope asked her secretary before the girl could greet her as she approached her office.</p><p>“Yes, Miss Mikaelson! Your Peanut Butter blast with whipped cream on the bottom is on your desk,” she replied and then nervously moved some folders on her desk while still standing up.</p><p>“Good! Has anyone called about the new sketches I sent?” Hope then asked and looked at her secretary with a serious expression on her face.</p><p>“No, Miss Mikaelson! I will inform you as soon as that happens,” Alyssa answered the auburn-haired girl’s question, her whole body stiff because she was standing there like a soldier that was waiting to receive commands from someone who was at a higher position.</p><p>“Alright!” Hope then said and went inside her office, but not before saying one more sentence to her secretary. “You look good today. I like what you’ve done with your hair.”</p><p>After she heard the compliment that her boss gave her, Alyssa touched her curls and began jumping up and down. She was so happy that she even began doing her work with pleasure and excitement. Hope would do that from time to time in order to boost up her secretary’s self-confidence so she wouldn’t quit her job. Of course, the girl didn’t know that her boss was actually lying to her. In reality, Alyssa looked absolutely terrible. She wasn’t wearing any make up, had big nerdy glasses and her hair was so greasy that it seemed as if she hadn’t showered for weeks. Why did Hope choose such a person as her secretary you might ask? The answer is quite simple. It was because the auburn-haired girl wanted someone ugly that wouldn’t outshine her. If Alyssa was some gorgeous babe, everyone else would start complimenting her instead and Hope couldn’t have that. She wanted to appear the best and for all her employees to crawl and worship at her feet.</p><p>When Hope walked inside her office, she immediately noticed the coffee that Alyssa had put on top of her desk and the large pile of paperwork next to it. The auburn-haired girl made an annoyed face and placed her designer handbag in a special spot near her chair where she would usually put it, then sat down behind her desk. She wanted it to be close by because it was one of her most prized possessions. <em>God, I hate doing paperwork… </em>Hope thought and then let out a long frustrated sigh. The girl felt like that was the worst part of her job and wished that someone would do the damn thing for her and that she wouldn’t have to lift a finger. She would usually dump part of it on her secretary, but Alyssa could only do so much. There was still a lot of paperwork left that Hope had to do by herself.</p><p>“I’ll just drink my coffee first and then I’ll worry about all these documents,” the auburn-haired girl said to herself and took the cup with the hot beverage in her hands. But before she could take a sip, her phone began vibrating like crazy. Hope looked at the screen and noticed that some unknown number was calling her. She wondered for a few seconds about whether or not she should pick up, but in the end she did because she thought that it could be something related to the fashion line.</p><p>“Hello?” she then said as soon as she answered the call and waited for the person on the other side to reply.</p><p>“Hey, hot stuff! I had a great time with you a few nights ago! You were so amazing in bed, you know that? Like, you are absolutely the best person I’ve ever had sex with. That thing you did with your tongue, man did that drive me crazy! When can I see you again?” some guy that Hope had hooked up with a few nights before blurted out, making the girl raise her eyebrows in shock.</p><p>“I have no idea who you are, so could you please hang up and don’t call-” she began saying, but the man cut her off before she could finish her sentence.</p><p>“Of course a gorgeous girl like you wouldn’t remember me. I am so stupid! Let me tell you who I am again. My name’s Simon and I might say, you and I had an amazing time at my parents’ basement a few nights ago. Like, you were absolutely-“</p><p>Before the guy could say everything he wanted, Hope had already hung up the phone. At the mention of the word basement, the memories of what happened with this man all came back to her. The auburn-haired girl made a disgusted facial expression as she remembered how they had sex on some dirty old bed, both of them completely drunk out of their minds. Hope couldn’t even comprehend how she allowed herself to be with an awful thirty-year-old guy who didn’t have a job and lived in his parents’ basement. Although she felt a little flattered because of his compliment, she knew that he hadn’t been with many girls so it wasn’t such a huge achievement for her. Hope usually felt pretty confident with her skills in bed, but she preferred if some hunky macho told her how great she was instead of this wimpy loser Simon.</p><p>The girl heard her phone vibrating again a few seconds after she had hung up and knew that it was that guy again, but this time she didn’t answer. After a few minutes and almost ten missed calls, Simon got tired of calling and stopped. Hope then blocked his number so that he would never be able to call her again.</p><p>“Alright, now that that’s taken care of, I’ll go back to drinking my coffee!” Hope said to herself and took the first sip of her delicious hot beverage, moaning a little and closing her eyes in pleasure as the liquid went down her throat. She tried enjoying this moment as much as she could because she knew that when it was over, she’d have to start doing that damn paperwork she hated so much.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A tall brunette named Josie Saltzman turned the lights on as she entered her workplace. Many years had passed since she opened up her very own grocery store. It wasn’t as big as some huge supermarket, so normally, the girl found herself wishing that it was larger, but at the same time, she loved it just the way it was – small, not well-known. She had started it all on her own and so because of that, she loved that place. It was the second most important thing in her life, after her family and friends of course.</p>
<p>Josie Saltzman was generally a kind-hearted person, who absolutely loved helping people in need, but sadly, fate wasn’t so generous to her and the girl didn’t really have much money. There weren’t that many customers at her grocery store, making her job low-paid, and because of how good of a person she was, she would always lend part of what little she had earned to someone who needed it more. For example, whenever she would walk down the street and see a homeless person, she’d give him money to buy himself something to eat. But still, despite everything, she lived without cutting back on essentials. That was because her roommate and twin sister Lizzie Saltzman was a photographer and helped her out. Josie would always tell her not to give her money, that she wanted to do everything on her own and not rely on her family’s money. She wanted Lizzie to keep the cash for herself and not spend it on her, but Lizzie was stubborn and never once listened to her sister. Eventually, the brunette just gave up trying to talk the girl out of this and let her do what she wanted, hoping and doing everything she could so that business would pick up soon and she’d start earning more money in order to pay Lizzie back for everything she’s done.</p>
<p>After Josie closed the door behind her and changed the sign on it so it would show “Open”, she put her keys in the drawer behind the desk and turned on the cash register, just like she did every single morning when she went to work. While she waited for a customer to arrive, she began arranging the shelves full with all kinds of products because she wanted to keep herself busy and not waste her time just sitting around doing nothing.</p>
<p>“Ahh, you guys have it easy. You just stay here for days on until someone buys you,” Josie said out loud to a jar of tomatoes she was holding in her hand. “You don’t have to do anything other than just sit there and wait for someone to open you up and eat you so they could fill their tummies up and satisfy their hunger. You get to be useful just like that while I have to work my butt off.”</p>
<p>Josie then found herself wishing that her life was like that of the tomatoes. She wanted to really be useful to someone. Even though she usually helped people out whenever she could, she still viewed everything she would do as way too small or insignificant. Because she didn’t earn that much money, she couldn’t give more to the homeless people, couldn’t be useful to Lizzie at all and couldn’t live her life without relying on somebody else.</p>
<p>A long sigh escaped the brunette’s mouth as she placed the jar on the shelf in a precise order. Then she looked at the pickles and all the other types of food she had around her, and said, “You all have it easy like them too, you know! Don’t think that it’s just the jar of tomatoes.”</p>
<p>Josie knew that she seemed like a crazy person talking to food like that, but she was alone and didn’t really care. She thought that it wasn’t that big a deal because people talk to inanimate objects all the time. It wasn’t like she was the only one out there.</p>
<p>“You dork, are you talking to the food again?” Josie suddenly heard a familiar voice say and immediately, a wide smile appeared on her face. She would recognize it anywhere because she had heard it more times than she could count. It was the voice of her regular customer and one of her closest friends – Kym Hawkins.</p>
<p>“Hey! Don’t laugh at me, idiot!” Josie yelled out and threw a pack of gum at the other girl who was holding her stomach because she was now laughing her butt off.</p>
<p>“Alright, alright… Jeez!” Kym said a few seconds later and cleared her throat. “Just don’t throw more stuff at me, will ya?”</p>
<p>“You’re here early today. How come?” Josie then curiously asked her friend and raised an eyebrow. Usually, Kym would come to the grocery store every day at noon, but this time, she was there in the morning, which made the brunette wonder whether something had happened.</p>
<p>“MG is sick so I decided that I’m gonna surprise him with breakfast in bed this morning. Now hurry up and give me some eggs, milk and everything else I need in order to whip up some pancakes before he wakes up,” Kym told her and leaned on the checkout counter.</p>
<p>“Awww, you’re such a good roommate,” Josie cutely said and began taking the products that her friend needed from the shelves.</p>
<p>“Shut up,” Kym muttered as she felt her cheeks become red because she was blushing. “So, speaking of roommates. How’s… Lizzie doing? Is she still with you-know-who?”</p>
<p>“Stop asking me the same question every single day. Yes, she’s still with Rafael and by the looks of things, she doesn’t have any intention of breaking up with him,” Josie replied with a slightly annoyed tone. She knew that her friend was madly in love with Lizzie ever since the day she met her at the grocery store, but it was so annoying that she would keep asking about her every time they’d start a conversation.</p>
<p>“Sorry… You know how I feel about her, Jo. I can’t help it…” Kym said and sighed in frustration. She loved Lizzie so much but there was absolutely no chance of them being together because the girl was straight and already taken by some stupid man. Kym wished that things were different and that the girl would see her as something other than a friend, but she knew that there was nothing she could do about it, so she just had to accept it. Josie and her roommate MG were the only people who knew about these feelings she had for Lizzie because the two were Kym’s closest friends and the only ones who she could actually trust.</p>
<p>“Excuse me, dearies, but may I please ask if these eggs over here were laid by a chicken?” The two girls suddenly heard the voice of some white-haired woman that looked as if she would die of old age any second. <em>Where the hell did this broad come from? </em> Josie and Kym both wondered because they didn’t see nor hear the granny come into the store.</p>
<p>“Yes, ma’am, they were…” Josie answered the question quickly. She didn’t really know if they were chicken eggs but she decided to tell the woman that they were because of fear that she might not buy them.</p>
<p>“Hmmm…” the granny hummed and continued staring at the eggs, examining their every detail – from the shape to their color and how big they were.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Josie managed to give Kym all of the products she needed for MG’s pancakes and was now only waiting for her friend to pay. Just as she was about to take the money, though, the old woman spoke up once again.</p>
<p>“I am so sorry, my dear, but I will not be buying your eggs because they are not laid by a rooster,” she told the brunette, making both girls raise their eyebrows in confusion. “I want rooster eggs!”</p>
<p>“Excuse me, ma’am, but roosters cannot lay eggs,” Josie explained to the woman politely and hoped that she would understand her and in the end buy the damn eggs.</p>
<p>“Yeah, roosters are male chickens. It’s like saying that a man can give birth,” Kym said and chuckled at the granny’s stupidity. <em>This woman has lost her mind…</em></p>
<p>“You are wrong! I’ve bought eggs that came from roosters. You children don’t know anything!” the white-haired woman argued, making Kym laugh out loud.</p>
<p>“Wherever you bought them from, the shop assistant probably lied to you, you delusional granny!” Kym then said for which she received a smack on the arm from Josie.</p>
<p>“Hey, respect your elders,” the brunette scolded her as her friend rubbed the place where she had been hit.</p>
<p>“What a rude girl! I am leaving this grocery store and I am never coming back. I will also tell everyone at the Mystic Falls Senior Citizens Club about this so that they’ll know not to come to this wretched store!” the granny yelled out and then afterwards left the place.</p>
<p>“Just great. This is so not my lucky day,” Josie said and buried her face in her hands.</p>
<p>“Relax, Jo… More customers will come later. It’s still just eight o’clock in the morning. Most people are in bed at this time!” Kym tried to reassure her friend.</p>
<p>“I hope you’re right…” the brunette uttered and sat down on a chair behind the cashier’s desk.</p>
<p>“Well anyways, I’ll be going now, Jo. Wish me luck!” the girl then said to her friend as she gave her the money for the products she needed and afterwards left the grocery store, leaving Josie alone again with no one to talk to but the jar of tomatoes and all the other types of food that were around her.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>It was eight thirty in the evening and Josie Saltzman finally decided to close up the store for the day. Kym actually turned out to be right that she’d have more customers later so she had been worrying for nothing. Because of that unpleasant scene with the old woman in the morning, Josie thought that her day would be very crappy, but it turned out better than she had expected. It was actually one of the best she had had in a while since she had earned about three times the money she would normally earn.</p>
<p>When Josie locked up her grocery store, she began walking back home. It was dark outside and rather cold as she made her way along the streets of Mystic Falls. Luckily, she lived fifteen minutes away, so it usually didn’t take long for her to get to her apartment. On the way, though, something caught Josie’s attention. It was a clothing store with a large sign above it that said “Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson”. Josie would usually pass it by every single night but she’d never really notice it. This time, though, she did because a cute pink dress, one that was laid out for everyone to see, caught her eye. The moment she noticed it, Josie had the idea that she should buy it for Lizzie as a present to express her gratitude for everything she had done for her.</p>
<p>The brunette moved closer to the store in order to get a better look at the dress. It was very beautiful and she believed that it would look amazing on Lizzie. Plus, pink was her sister’s absolute favourite color and also, the girl loved clothes, so Josie knew that she would definitely love it.</p>
<p>“I’m definitely buying it!” she then said out loud and walked inside the store with a wide smile plastered on her face.</p>
<p>As soon as she stepped foot inside, though, the girl noticed that there was no one there. She thought that it was a bit weird that everything was left unsupervised but she decided to brush it off and just wait for the shop assistant to come. Josie really liked that dress and was willing to wait for hours if she had to just so she could buy it for her twin. While she waited, the girl decided to look around and check out what other things the store offered. She noticed that there were many sunglasses laid out, jeans, T-shirts, blouses and any other items of clothing that a person can think of.</p>
<p>Josie wasn’t really fond of fashion, though, and she didn’t really understand what the deal was with all those brands and stuff. That was because she wasn’t interested in these sorts of things at all. Whenever Lizzie would start talking to her about new clothes that she had bought, shoes or some designer handbags, Josie would usually not pay any attention to her. She just found the topic extremely boring and uninteresting.</p>
<p>“Can I help you with something?” Josie then suddenly heard someone say from behind her, the voice making her jump a little in shock because she hadn’t expected to hear it at all. The girl thought that she’d hear footsteps or something which would indicate that someone else was there, but she didn’t hear any. Guess it was because she was too engulfed in her own thoughts and didn’t notice that someone had come behind her.</p>
<p>Josie turned around as soon as she heard the question that was asked and then saw the figure of the other person standing before her. She then opened her mouth in order to speak and a few seconds later, gave an answer.</p>
<p>“Yes, I would like to buy that beautiful pink dress over there…”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Meet cute grocery store owner Josie Saltzman everyone! &lt;3 </p>
<p>I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Stay tuned for more! ^-^</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">"Yes, I would like to buy that beautiful pink dress over there," Josie told the shop assistant with a big smile on her face and pointed at the item of clothing. The way she said it was so cute and innocent, as if she was a small child that wanted to buy a new doll. The sight could definitely melt everyone’s heart. Even though Josie was twenty-six, she still acted like a dorky kid sometimes.</p>
<p class="western">The shop assistant turned his head to the direction where the brunette was pointing and found his eyes immediately lighting up and his mouth opening in excitement as soon as he saw what she wanted to buy. That exact breathtakingly beautiful pink dress was in fact the most expensive item in the whole store. It cost about 1200$ and if the shop assistant were to sell it, he would make a huge profit for Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson. The man smiled widely and then immediately dashed towards the dress, his heart racing at the thought that if this customer were to buy it, then his boss Hope Mikaelson would be bound to give him that promotion he had always wanted but had never got.</p>
<p class="western">The shop assistant was in a hurry to take the dress as fast as possible since he was afraid that Josie might change her mind and decide not to buy it if he was doing his job slowly. Little did he know that the girl didn't really have that kind of money and she couldn't afford the dress even in her wildest dreams. Since there weren't price tags on the items in the store, there was no way Josie could’ve known how much that dress costs. Boss Hope Mikaelson was to blame for that one because she had ordered some months ago to have every price tag removed. The reason was the fact that important people don't look at price tags when buying something because they are loaded and don't care how much cash they spend. She wanted only those kinds of people to shop from her stores. Sadly, Josie wasn’t like that and just presumed that the dress wouldn't be more than 100$. That was a fairly acceptable price in her opinion.</p>
<p class="western">“Would you like to try it on?” the man asked Josie as soon as he took the dress in his hands. “We have larger sizes as well if it’s too small for you. Don’t worry, Miss.”</p>
<p class="western">Before Josie could give him a reply, he handed her the dress and began practically pushing her towards the changing room.</p>
<p class="western">“Ahh, no, thank you. I’m buying it as a present for my sister,” the brunette replied politely, making the man stop in his tracks and say, “Ohh, that’s wonderful! So then what size is your sister? A seven maybe? Or eight?”</p>
<p class="western">Josie actually had no idea what size Lizzie was. Hell, she didn’t even know her own. Whenever she would buy clothes, she’d just try them on and if they fit, she would buy them. She didn’t really care or try to understand sizes because they were all so confusing to her. There were way too many and she didn’t know the difference between any of them. But at that moment, oh how she wished she knew Lizzie’s size at least. If only she had paid more attention to her twin when she was ordering clothes online.</p>
<p class="western">“Uhh, I’ll buy this one that was on the manikin. I think that it would fit her. If not, I’ll come here with her and we’ll exchange it for one that’s a different size,” Josie said hesitantly to the man. She prayed so hard for it to be perfect, because she didn’t really want to bother her sister. She was super busy these days with her photography work and had enough on her plate. The last thing she needed was to be dragged to some clothing store, even if it was like, only a few minutes away from the apartment.</p>
<p class="western">“Alrighty then! I’ll just wrap it up and then you can pay,” the shop assistant happily exclaimed and then went behind the desk to get a special Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson bag in which to put the dress. A few minutes later, he was done and handed the bag to the girl, then said, “That will be 1200$. Thank you for your purchase!”</p>
<p class="western">"Uhm, sorry, but could you please repeat that?" Josie politely asked the man because she thought that she might have misheard what he had said. <em>There's no way the dress is 1200$. He probably said 120$. </em></p>
<p class="western">"The dress costs 1200$. Would you like to pay in cash or with a card?" the man then told her and waited for the brunette to pay up, his legs shaking in excitement.</p>
<p class="western">Josie felt her eyes widen in shock and her whole body stiffen the moment she heard the price of the dress. It slipped so easily out of the man’s mouth, as if it was just a normal price and not expensive at all. <em>1200$ for a damn dress. Are these people insane? There's no way I'm paying that kind of money even if I was able to afford it somehow. </em>Josie thought and then her expression quickly shifted to an angry one.</p>
<p class="western">''Excuse me?!" she then said, her voice loud and scary, making the shop assistant jump in fear. He absolutely did not expect this woman to turn into such a demon. Her sweet-looking outer appearance could definitely fool anyone. "You actually expect me to give you such a large amount of money for a dress? Are you out of your mind?”</p>
<p class="western">“What is going on here, Jed?” Suddenly, both Josie and the shop assistant heard someone else say and immediately turned around. The man knew very well who that voice belonged to because he had heard it more times than he could count.</p>
<p class="western">“Miss Mikaelson…” the shop assistant named Jed said nervously and bowed before his boss. Josie looked at the man who was now shaking in fear. She couldn’t blame him, though. This woman that had appeared out of nowhere was scary as hell. Her expression was heartless and she seemed like she could make even the bravest person whimper before her. But even so, Josie had to admit that Hope was breathtakingly beautiful on the outside. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind about that.</p>
<p class="western">“I asked you something and I expect you to answer, so don’t just stand there not saying anything and speak or else I’ll fire you right here and now,” Hope said a few seconds later, her voice still as cold and ruthless as before. She was actually pissed off not only because she found some woman she didn’t know yelling at the top of her lungs inside her store, but because, at that moment, she was wasting her time. The reason she actually came to the store was so she could have sex with Jed and let off some steam because she had a hard day at work, but instead she had to deal some stupid problem.</p>
<p class="western">To Josie, Hope seemed like such a bitch at the moment because of the way she was treating her employee. In her opinion, a great boss must always respect those who work for them. But the man beside her thought differently. He actually loved every single thing about Hope, from her outstanding beauty to the way she behaved towards him and others. Even though it made him shake in fear most of the time, he actually wasn’t bothered all that much by it because he was so clouded by love. Plus, on some sick level, he also thought that it was kind of hot.</p>
<p class="western">Hope knew about these feelings her employee had but she didn’t really care. It didn’t matter to her at all because, like any other man, she only viewed him as an object used for pleasure. The two would occasionally hook up without anyone knowing and even though Jed wanted more, he still went along with it because he loved Hope so much and was willing to do anything for her.</p>
<p class="western">The shop assistant opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could come out, Josie jumped in and said with a disapproving tone in her voice, “What’s going on is that he wants me to pay 1200$ for a dress. I will not do that and I absolutely cannot accept the fact that you sell items at such high prices at your store, while there are some people out there who can’t even afford to buy food.”</p>
<p class="western">The brunette’s words usually should’ve made anyone feel extremely guilty if they were in Hope’s position, but the ice princess didn’t even bat an eyelash. She just continued standing there, looking at Josie now with the same cold expression on her face.</p>
<p class="western">“I don’t give a crap. This is the way I chose to run things and neither you nor anybody else can tell me what to do. If the dress is 1200$, then that means that it is of high value, so because of that reason I have put up that kind of price. Understand?” Hope explained to the girl before her, her voice giving off the usual bitchy vibe that just makes you want to punch her in the face so bad.</p>
<p class="western">“You are by far the most awful person I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Josie told the classy woman straight to her face. “I cannot believe that someone like you actually exists. Do you even have a soul? Is being rich all you care about?”</p>
<p class="western">“In this world you have to be ruthless if you want to be successful. I have worked so hard to get where I am today. My marketing strategy is perfect and I believe that I deserve everything I have. I don’t care that there are people out there who don’t have money. It’s their own fault that they’re in that kind of position. Anyone can earn cash if they try hard enough. That’s what I believe! So why should I lower my prices because of them?” Hope just said, ignoring the fact that the brunette practically insulted her. It didn’t really bother her because it was true. She knew that she was an awful person. The problem was that she just didn’t care.</p>
<p class="western">“I can’t continue listening to this bullshit anymore. I’m leaving!” Josie angrily yelled out and began walking towards the exit of the store. Before passing through it, she turned around one last time and told Hope, “I hope I never see you again.”</p>
<p class="western">As soon as Josie was gone, Hope turned to Jed who was just standing silently aside. The girl then walked passed him and went inside the storage room before saying, “Go lock the door and then come here. You have no idea how horny I am right now.”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">A furious Josie entered her apartment and slammed the door behind her. She still couldn’t believe what had happened to her ten minutes before in that damn clothing store. Never in her entire life had she experienced something so unpleasant. <em>God, why does such a beautiful woman like her have that kind of attitude?! </em></p>
<p class="western">“How can a person like that even exist?!” the brunette muttered under her breath as she walked inside the living room.</p>
<p class="western">Of course, as soon as she did, she immediately noticed her sister Lizzie making out with her boyfriend on the couch. Josie made a disgusted face and rolled her eyes as she then saw Rafael’s hand going under her twin’s shirt. The two lovebirds didn’t even notice that there was someone else watching them and Josie swore that if a burglar were to come and steal something from the apartment, they could just freely take whatever they want without anyone stopping them.</p>
<p class="western">A sigh escaped the brunetet’s mouth as she just ignored the two and went past them, making her way afterwards into her own bedroom. Jumping on the bed, Josie then buried her face into her pillow and began screaming her lungs out. She knew that she should just forget everything that happened because she was probably never going to see that woman again, but she was so damn pissed off that she couldn’t at the moment. Even the screaming didn’t really help out all that much.</p>
<p class="western">“I have to stop thinking about this…” Josie then said after turning around and looking at the ceiling. “Everyone has experiences like this daily. They fight with other people, so I shouldn’t make a big deal out of this and should just forget about it.”</p>
<p class="western">The brunette then sighed and brought herself in a sitting position on the bed. After a few minutes of just doing practically nothing, she decided to finally stop wasting her time and do something beneficial. She then stood up from the bed and walked to her bookshelf.</p>
<p class="western">“Hmm… What book should I dive into tonight?” Josie continued speaking out loud as she wondered what she should read. She had many books placed on the shelf because reading was one of her favourite hobbies and there was practically one or more of every genre. The brunette enjoyed all kinds of literature, but she especially loved romance and erotic novels. Of course, her book preferences was something that no one but her closest friends knew about. Who would’ve thought that the adorable and super sweet grocery shop owner Josie Saltzman was such a pervert?</p>
<p class="western"><a id="_GoBack" name="_GoBack"></a> “Whiskey at Midnight sounds like a good choice tonight,” the girl then said and smirked before taking the book off the shelf and in her hands. She then went back to her bed, got comfortable, and after staring at the extremely hot cover it had, she opened it to the page that was bookmarked and began reading from there. In just a few seconds, she got so engrossed in the story that all thoughts of what happened at the clothing store disappeared from her mind completely.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>First Hosie confrontation. ;) </p>
<p>Hope you're enjoying the story so far! Stay tuned for more! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A few days after the incident at her clothing store, Hope completely forgot all about the tall brunette who insulted her by calling her the most awful person she’d ever met. At first, the memory of what happened would just pop into her head out of nowhere, the words Josie had said ringing loudly in her ears as if she was experiencing it again. Then she would start wondering why this girl cared so much about others. It had been so long since Hope really cared for anyone, so she had forgotten what it was like. After her parents and boyfriend passed away, the auburn-haired girl practically switched off her emotions. She acted like she didn’t care even about her aunt, but somewhere deep inside of her, she actually did because all her feelings were there despite everything. Hope might not know that, but they were there and she just had to find them in order to let them out again.</p>
<p>Throughout the past few days, occasional thoughts about what Josie said would just unwillingly enter Hope’s mind, making her think about the whole thing even if she actually didn’t want to. On some level, it was probably because the encounter in her store actually did make Hope feel a little guilty, even though she thought that she didn’t care at all. Somehow, the words that Josie had said got to her. But it was probably just a matter of time before these feelings would be buried, just like all the other emotions she had. And that was exactly what happened. In just a couple of days, Hope completely forgot about everything and continued with her usual routine. It, of course, involved going to work, getting drunk afterwards, having sex with some random dude somewhere, etc.</p>
<p>It was very early in the morning, probably seven or eight o’clock, and Hope woke up in her bed with a major headache. Placing her hand over her eyes, the auburn-haired girl brought herself in a sitting position and sighed in frustration. <em>Damn, I need some medicine or something. This pain is killing me. </em>Hope thought as she turned to her right and opened her drawer in order to take a little bottle with pills in it that was usually in the bottom left corner. That was the place the girl would always leave it because it was the most convenient for her. Of course, if she was in someone else’s bed or just somewhere that wasn’t her room, she had a spare bottle of pills in her purse ready to be gulped down at any time.</p>
<p>After Hope took one, though, she then heard an extremely loud and very disturbing noise echoing inside her room and making her head hurt even more. The girl was hungover, which meant that even the slightest sound felt like it would kill her. Turning to the direction where the noise was coming from, Hope then noticed that she was in fact not alone in her own bed. There was a naked man there as well who was snoring while sleeping comfortably next to her because he was tired from all the activities they did during the night. He was a very attractive man, Hope had to admit, and he was also a great lover. The girl didn’t remember exactly everything, but she knew that she had an amazing orgasm because of this person. In her opinion, every girl would kill to have a guy like that by her side.</p>
<p>Hope saw that his lower body was covered with the sheets and immediately remembered something else as well. The image of his large manhood appeared in her mind and Hope smirked. <em>Oh I’m so going to have sex with you again some other time.</em></p>
<p>A few minutes later, Hope decided that it was time to wake the guy up and make him leave the house because she had important work to do.</p>
<p>“Wake up,” she just told him and slapped his chest without caring at all that it wasn’t right to wake someone up like that. The man, of course, was startled and immediately jumped up into a sitting position on the bed.</p>
<p>“Hey! Why’d you wake me like that? You could’ve been gentler,” he complained and rubbed the place where Hope had slapped him.</p>
<p>“I don’t care. You have to leave now because I have important things to do,” Hope just said and stared at him, her voice and face giving off no signs of emotion whatsoever. The man looked at her after she said that and expected himself to just get up, put his clothes on and leave this bitch’s apartment, but as soon as his eyes saw her gorgeous face and messy hair that made her look so hot and sexy, he instantly became captivated by her.</p>
<p>“Oh come on… You don’t want to have a morning round with this bad boy?” the man then asked her and smirked before moving the sheets aside and uncovering the lower part of his body. He had forgotten completely about how rudely Hope had awaken him and all he cared about at that moment was having the auburn-haired girl right there and then, riding him like there’s no tomorrow.</p>
<p>“As much as I am tempted, I must decline your offer because as I said, I have things to do. Now leave my room and this apartment…” Hope repeated herself, but this time her voice sounded a little harsher and pissed off. She really disliked it when someone was keeping her from her job.</p>
<p>“Alright, fine…” the man then told her and stood up from the bed. He then put his clothes on and before leaving the room, said to her while winking, “I’ll see you around, Hope.”</p>
<p>As soon as he stepped out of the room, he closed the door behind him and then began walking down the hallway. As he was making his way towards the exit of the apartment, his nose caught the scent of something extremely delicious.</p>
<p>“Mmm, someone’s making waffles!” the man said out loud to himself as soon as he recognized the smell. Of course, since he was very hungry, he then decided to find out where the food was being made in hopes that the person making it would give him some to eat.</p>
<p>After a minute or so, guided by his nose, the guy finally found a beautiful blonde in the kitchen who was indeed making waffles just like he had predicted.</p>
<p>“And who might you be? Another one of my niece’s boy toys?” she asked as soon as she noticed him looking at her.</p>
<p>“The name’s Landon and if you must know, I’m Hope’s boyfriend,” he answered and sat on some chair that was inside the kitchen.</p>
<p>The moment Freya heard his words, she began laughing so hard that tears even began forming in her eyes. The idea of Hope having a boyfriend sounded so absurd to her that she just couldn’t help it. Ever since the accident that happened about a year ago, Freya believed that Hope would never be the same and that she won’t ever have a serious relationship again. After all this time and all the guys that she’s been with, Freya knew that it was definitely out of the question. Even though she didn’t like it, she had to get used to the way Hope was and accept the fact that she would be like that for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>“Boyfriend? Are you kidding me?” Freya said through fits of laughter as she continued making the waffles.</p>
<p>“Okay fine, we’re not official yet, but I’m planning to ask her to be with me!” Landon told the older woman with determination and Freya just began laughing even more.</p>
<p>“Sorry to break it to you, buddy, but my niece would never agree to be someone’s girlfriend,” she then stated.</p>
<p>Landon made an annoyed expression and just muttered, “We’ll see about that!” before standing up and grabbing one of the waffles which Freya had made before he came into the kitchen and taking a bite from it.</p>
<p>“Hey! Those are not-” the girl began yelling but she couldn’t finish her sentence because at that moment her niece walked inside the kitchen.</p>
<p>Hope then said with the scariest voice ever, “Freya, did you touch my mascara? You know that I don’t like it when someone touches my things!”</p>
<p>“No, I haven’t. You probably left it somewhere you can’t remember... again,” the older woman replied normally and Hope just glared at her while crossing her arms in front of her chest.</p>
<p>“Really now? Then what is that over there on the counter?” Hope asked and raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>Freya just rolled her eyes and picked up the damn thing that her niece thought was her mascara, then lifted it up and said with a pissed off tone in her voice, “It’s a fork…”</p>
<p>“Hmph! Fine then…” Hope just said and turned around to walk out of the room, but before she could leave, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and heard someone whisper in her ear words that would probably make any girl melt.</p>
<p>“You don’t need make up to be beautiful, babe, because you’re perfect to me no matter how you look,” Landon told her but unfortunately, the man didn’t get the reaction he was expecting from her.</p>
<p>Hope wasn’t even the tinniest bit moved by his words and the only thing she did was remove his hands from around her waist, turn around and say, “I don’t care. Your opinion means nothing to me. Now get the hell out of my apartment or else I’m going to call the police!”</p>
<p>After that she just walked out of there and went back to her room to get ready for work. Freya genuinely felt sorry for Landon at that moment. She really disliked the way her niece treated everyone, but there was nothing she could do to change it. What the woman didn’t expect, though, was what happened a few minutes later. The man turned around and smiled at her, then said, “God, your niece is so hot when she’s acting like that.”</p>
<p>Landon’s words left Freya completely dumbfounded because she had never met someone who liked her niece even when she treated them like they were worthless pieces of crap. <em>Maybe there’s hope for this guy after all… </em></p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>It was eight o’clock in the morning and Josie and Lizzie were sitting inside a café with two of their closest friends Dana and Maya. Of course, Josie didn’t really want to be there because she disliked places like that. The only times she’d go inside one was to just order a cup of coffee to go that she’d take to work with her. But Lizzie had forced her to come and she just couldn’t refuse. The girl had done so much for her and Josie didn’t want to let her down. Usually, Lizzie went to this place with Dana and Maya alone and they’d gossip about all kinds of things, but this time, she wanted her sister to come as well because she had noticed that Josie was feeling a bit down lately for reasons she did not know about. Lizzie tried asking her what’s wrong but the brunette kept things to herself, so she decided not to pry and just let the girl come to her if she wanted to talk about her problems.</p>
<p>“Oh my god, Liz, you have no idea who that skank Wendy is dating now. You’ll freak when you find out!” Dana said to her friend, making Lizzie open her mouth wide in shock.</p>
<p>“Who? Oh my god, don’t tell me she’s dating Nick?! Is she?” the girl asked, her eyes wide as she waited for her friend to say something.</p>
<p>“Mhmmm, yes indeed!” Dana replied and Maya next to her nodded her head repeatedly. “And three other guys at the same time!”</p>
<p>“Mind-blowing…” Lizzie just said, her eyes still wide, and then the three girls each took a sip from their cups of coffee at the same time.</p>
<p>On a chair next to them was sitting poor Josie who didn’t pay attention to their conversation at all because she wasn’t interested in gossip. So the girl just sat there and played games on her phone while her friends discussed who some girls they knew were dating, that one of Dana’s colleagues was wearing the same outfit two days in a roll and other things that were very boring to Josie.</p>
<p>After about an hour, the gossip session was over and both girls bid goodbye to Dana and Maya, then began walking back home. Josie had decided to go to work later because she wasn’t really feeling like going there early, while Lizzie just had a day off. At first the walk was silent, but then the blonde began speaking.</p>
<p>“Oh I forgot to ask you something, Jo…” she said and Josie turned her head to look at her twin.</p>
<p>“What?” the brunette asked curiously and Lizzie took a deep breath before saying, “A close friend of mine hired me as the photographer for her fashion show tomorrow and since my assistant Wade is sick, can you like… maybe come in his place and help me out?”</p>
<p>As soon as she heard that, Josie sighed in frustration. She disliked these kinds of events because she wasn’t interested in fashion at all. Lizzie knew how her sister felt, but since there was no one else that could come tomorrow, she had no choice but to ask her.</p>
<p>“Please, Jo… Pretty please…” Lizzie pleaded and made a cute puppy dog face, one that Josie couldn’t say no to.</p>
<p>“Alright, alright… I’ll come… Just stop looking at me like that. You’re way too cute,” Josie said and sighed once again before pinching Lizzie’s cheeks.</p>
<p>“Yay! Thank you, Jo! It starts at nine in the evening. I’ll give you more details later today,” the blonde then told her and began jumping up and down in excitement before giving her twin a big tight hug,</p>
<p>“The things I do for you…” Josie said a few minutes later after Lizzie pulled away and then the two continued walking back to their apartment. The blonde was happy because her twin agreed to come, while Josie was a little bit frustrated since she hated going to places that were too crowded and doing things that she wasn’t interested in. <em>I hope everything goes well…</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked the chapter. Next one will be the fashion show! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Fashion show time! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Camera flashes, skinny models wearing pretty dresses while walking on the runway, looking so elegant and fabulous at the same time that it could leave everyone in awe, loud upbeat music that can make your heart rate instantly increase. That was what Josie Saltzman noticed the moment she made her way inside the largest room in </span>
  <span>Mystic Falls</span>
  <span> Cultural Complex, the place where every designer dreamed to have their fashion show held. The </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> arrived late there because, surprisingly, she got hung up at work, something which usually almost never happened. Because of some huge or should we say massive coincidence, she actually had many customers that day. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Josie took a few steps and looked around the room, she prayed with all her heart for Lizzie not to kill her since she was being irresponsible by arriving late. The </span>
  <span>blonde</span>
  <span> was very strict when it came to these things or just about absolutely everything that regarded her job. That was why she would always scold her assistant </span>
  <span>Wade</span>
  <span> whenever </span>
  <span>h</span>
  <span>e was late or made even the tiniest mistake. But even so, she was still a good boss and treated her employee with respect, unlike a certain </span>
  <span>auburn-haired girl</span>
  <span> named Hope Mikaelson who didn’t care about hurting other people’s feelings.</span>
</p>
<p><span>Sometimes during the day, Josie would think about her unpleasant experience in that clothing store, but she would quickly brush the thoughts away, because she didn’t want to ruin her mood. Every single time, she would tell herself to just forget about that incident. It happened and there was nothing she could do about it. But whether she liked it or not, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Never in her entire life had she met someone so awful and she was just appalled that a person like that actually exists. She hoped with all her heart that she would never meet Hope again. She didn’t want to see her or talk to her, but unfortunately, luck wasn’t on her side. They met again and to Josie’s surprise, they were introduced by someone the </span><span>brunette</span><span> never expected, someone who she’</span><span>d</span> <span>spend</span> <span>her</span> <span>entire life with </span><span>and would never have thought that could actually be friends with an awful woman like Hope – her </span><span>twin sister</span><span> Lizzie.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>From a few meters away, Josie saw her </span>
  <span>twin</span>
  <span> talking to someone while everyone else was watching the models walk on the runway. Guess the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> wasn’t as late as she thought she was. At least the show hadn’t ended yet, which was a good thing because Lizzie won’t scold her so much. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Oh no…” Josie said out loud to herself as she felt a hot wave surge through her whole body and he legs shake when her eyes landed on the person to whom Lizzie was talking to. It was Hope Mikaelson. She stopped in her tracks and was ready to turn around and leave because she absolutely didn’t want to be in the presence of that awful woman. But she had promised Lizzie that she’d be there and because of that, even though she wanted to leave, she couldn’t. There was no way in hell that she’d let her </span><span>sister</span><span> down. Plus, her </span><span>Lizzie</span><span> had already seen her and was motioning with her hand for her to come closer.</span></p>
<p>“<span>And then I just threw the blouse at the courier and didn’t order from that store again,” Lizzie explained to Hope a horrible experience that had happened to her a week ago, while the ice princess just nodded her head before saying, “Of course. You made the right decision, </span><span>Liz</span><span>. How could they have sent you something with a hole in it?! I would’ve sued them if I were you…” </span></p>
<p>
  <span>After she heard her friend’s words, Lizzie placed her hand on Hope’s shoulder and yelled out, “I know right! I’m still pissed off about that…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lizzie actually shouldn’t be talking to Hope and should’ve been taking photos instead. But they got caught up in their conversation that the </span>
  <span>blonde</span>
  <span> kind of forgot. Well, she had still taken at least fifty or so photos, so it didn’t really matter all that much anyway. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Josie approached them, Lizzie quickly turned her attention to her </span>
  <span>sister</span>
  <span> and opened her mouth to speak. She wanted to scold her for being late, but before she could say anything, Hope beat her to it. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>What the hell are you doing here?” she said angrily to the </span><span>tall</span><span> girl. “Come to criticize my fall collection or something? Is that it?”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Hope didn’t know why, but for some reason she felt angered by the fact that Josie was there at her fashion show. She rarely lost her temper and spoke to someone in such a way because most of the time she didn’t care, but now something came over her and she just snapped. It was probably because the </span>
  <span>tall</span>
  <span> girl’s words had really affected her a lot that day at the clothing store. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Josie was a little taken aback because she wasn’t expecting Hope to jump at her as soon as she saw her. But she quickly composed herself and replied as calmly as she could, “My coming here has nothing to do with you. So I would appreciate it if you don’t talk to me for the rest of the night.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Josie didn’t want to lose her cool because she felt that she was better than that and that it wasn’t worth it getting angry because of someone who she had seen just once in her life and was practically a stranger she knew nothing about.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>What’s going on here? How do you two know each other?” Lizzie asked with a confused tone in her voice. She had completely forgotten that she was mad at Josie for being late because her thoughts were now occupied with many questions like how her </span><span>sister</span><span> and her friend knew each other and why was she speaking to her in such a way. Hope of course, immediately answered the </span><span>blonde’s</span><span> questions.</span></p>
<p>“<span>We met a few days ago in one of my clothing stores. This girl here told me that I sell everything at a high price and that I shouldn’t run my company this way,” she explained, the anger still evident in her voice. Unfortunately though, Hope said that a little too loudly which attracted the attention of one of the bodyguards and a few other people that were around them.</span></p>
<p>“<span>Everything alright here, Miss </span><span>Mikaelson</span><span>?” the tall and well-built man asked Hope like the faithful servant that he was.</span></p>
<p>“<span>It’s fine, Vince…” the </span><span>auburn-haired girl</span><span> just replied without looking at the bodyguard and motioned with her hand for him to go away. After he heard her words, the man nodded and told all the other people who had turned around that there was no problem and that they should just continue enjoying the fashion show.</span></p>
<p>“<span>Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming tonight. I know that all of us here have anticipated </span><span>Mikaelson</span><span> &amp; </span><span>Mikaelson</span><span>’s new fall collection for a long time and so I hope you loved all the pretty dresses that you saw being presented. In my opinion, they were absolutely breathtaking. Now before the show sadly comes to an end, I would like to welcome the fabulous creative director Hope Mikaelson up here to say a few words,” the MC Hope had hired said through the microphone and everyone began clapping loudly. </span></p>
<p>“<span>They’re calling you up there,” Lizzie told her friend as she got her camera ready while Hope just said, “Thank god. Now I can finally do something that’s worth my time…”</span></p>
<p><span>Her words made Josie roll her eyes and as soon as she was gone, the </span><span>tall</span> <span>brunette</span><span> muttered, “What a bitch…”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Lizzie took a few pictures as her friend made her way up on the stage, then a few more as Hope began giving her speech. After she took about twenty or thirty pictures that were added to the other fifty she had taken of the models before while they were presenting the dresses, she turned to Josie, who had been standing there awkwardly for the past couple of minutes, and said, “What were you even doing inside a clothing store? I thought you didn’t like shopping…”</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>I wanted to buy you a gift to thank you because of everything you’ve done for me…” Josie just replied without looking at Lizzie. The </span><span>brunette</span><span> didn’t really care that she could just buy a dress from another store and still surprise her </span><span>sister.</span><span> The reason was that to her, the whole thing was ruined the moment she had that awful experience with Hope. Josie then turned her attention to the gorgeous </span><span>auburn-haired girl</span><span> up on that stage who was still giving her speech. She thought that the way Hope was talking made her seem so wonderful and just plain nice. She had a gorgeous smile on her face as she kept explaining what had inspired her to design the new fall collection. Josie still couldn’t believe that the woman up on that stage was the same one who acted like a complete bitch to her and her employees. </span><span><em>How can a beautiful girl like that be so awful? There must be some kind of reason that she’s like that.</em></span></p>
<p>“<span>Awwww, Jo… You’re such a sweetheart!” Lizzie said cutely after she heard her </span><span>sister</span><span>’s words. At that moment she instantly forgot about all the millions of thoughts that were running through her head. The only thing that was on her mind now was how super sweet and cute her </span><span>twin</span><span> was for trying to do something nice for her. But of course, a few seconds later, she began thinking about the fact that Hope and Josie didn’t get along which was a problem because she had really hoped they would. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>Lizzie met Hope a few weeks before the fashion show when she was doing some photo shoot and surprisingly, the two got along pretty </span>
  <span>will</span>
  <span>. They went out a couple of times for coffee and talked mostly about fashion. Hope didn’t really act like a bitch because she didn’t want to ruin her reputation. Lizzie knew a lot of people in the fashion and entertainment industry, so the </span>
  <span>auburn-haired girl</span>
  <span> thought that she should be careful around her. During the times they went out, the </span>
  <span>blonde</span>
  <span> was fooled by Hope and she saw the </span>
  <span>auburn-haired girl</span>
  <span> as a really nice and sweet person who loved fashion as much as she did, so she was really surprised when she witnessed how Hope acted with Josie that night. </span>
  <span>
    <em>It was probably because she just got angry and lost her temper. It happens to everyone. </em>
  </span>
  <span>Lizzie thought and then said to her </span>
  <span>sister</span>
  <span>, “I really think that you should apologize to Hope. You must’ve made her very upset when you first met at her clothing store. She’s a nice person, </span>
  <span>Jo</span>
  <span>…”</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>She didn’t seem so nice when I talked with her. You don’t know how terribly she treated her employee and how cold she was when she spoke to me…” </span><span>Josie</span><span> replied and then a long sigh escaped her mouth. She couldn’t believe that her </span><span>sister</span><span> considered Hope a nice person and actually wanted her to apologize. But somewhere deep down, a part of her thought that Lizzie might be right and that she could have the wrong opinion of Hope. </span><span><em>Maybe I will go and apologize after the fashion show…</em></span></p>
<p>“<span>Alright…” Josie just said and Lizzie smiled widely before handing her some equipment to hold while she took a couple of more pictures. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>When the fashion show was all over, Lizzie went to her car to put her camera and other things away, while Josie went to find Hope. After a few minutes of searching, she finally did, but she saw her making out with the bodyguard Vince back stage.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Take me to your place. I’m tired of bringing guys to mine…” Josie heard Hope say with the same bitchy tone in her voice, giving out an order as if he was her slave or something, and immediately rolled her eyes in disapproval. </span><span><em>What an awful attitude… And does she hook up with someone every night? </em></span></p>
<p>
  <span>A few seconds later, Josie saw the huge man nod like a slave as he and Hope then made their way out of the building through the back door. Angrily, Josie went to the car where Lizzie was waiting for her and slammed the door shut as soon as she got in it.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>I take it things with Hope didn’t go well?” Lizzie asked her </span><span>sister</span><span> with a sad tone as she started the vehicle. Without looking at the </span><span>blonde</span><span>, Josie just muttered “Yep…” under her breath. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>A long sigh escaped Lizzie’s mouth and she then asked, “Want to tell me what happened?”</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>No…” Josie just replied and her roommate sighed again and then said, “Fine…” before she began driving back to their shared apartment. She saw that Josie was pissed off as hell so she decided not to force her to talk. </span><span><em>When she cools down, I’ll ask her again…</em></span></p>
<p>
  <span>The drive was silent and when they finally got home half an hour later, Josie went straight to her bedroom without saying anything. She thought about a lot of things that night. What happened in the clothing store replayed in her mind. She remembered every single word Hope had told her. Then her thoughts trailed off to the fashion show. She remembered how the </span>
  <span>auburn-haired girl</span>
  <span> talked to her, her voice full of anger. Then she wondered why Lizzie thought that Hope was a nice person. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Does she act differently when she speaks to her? </em>
  </span>
  <span>Josie thought and felt a little jealous that Hope was being nice to Lizzie and a bitch to her. The </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> then sighed in frustration and buried her face in her pillow. She wanted to forget about everything, about Hope, but she kept thinking of her. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Stop it, Josie…” she told herself and turned around in her bed once again. “Just forget about her…” she continued talking out loud. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>After a few minutes, Josie began staring at the ceiling and suddenly pictures of Hope and the bodyguard flashed before her eyes. Sighing, she then muttered under her breath, “I hope she’s okay at least. That guy could turn out to be a killer or rapist or something. Who knows? She might be a bitch but she doesn’t deserve that.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A while later, Josie got tired from all the thinking and fell asleep. Lizzie went into her </span>
  <span>twin</span>
  <span>’s room to check up on her, to see if she’s alright, and when she found her sleeping, she put a blanket over her, smiled and said, “I hope you start opening up to me, Josie… I don’t want you to keep everything in.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After saying that, she then turned the lights off and went out of the room, leaving her </span>
  <span>sister</span>
  <span> alone so she could rest.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Idk why but I kinda love bitchy Hope... :D She's kinda hot. &lt;3 :D </p>
<p>Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for more tomorrow! ^-^</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoyyy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">
  <span>A week had passed since the fashion show and Josie hadn’t seen Hope anywhere, which she thought was absolutely amazing because she didn’t want to be in the presence of that horrible woman at all. There were occasional times when the </span>
  <span>auburn-haired girl</span>
  <span> would pop into her head just like that. The way Hope looked on the stage, her dazzling smile and elegant figure would flash before the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span>’s eyes, making her doze off and not pay attention to anything happening around her for a few seconds. She thought Hope was absolutely beautiful, but hated her personality so much and because of that, even though she loved how the girl looked, she still didn’t want to meet her ever again. Lizzie on the other hand, had went out with Hope a couple of times during the week, which was something Josie did not like at all since she didn’t want her </span>
  <span>sister</span>
  <span> to spend time with that awful person and be influenced by her. But she couldn’t do anything about it. It was Lizzie’s life and the </span>
  <span>blonde</span>
  <span> could do whatever the hell she wanted. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>God, I’m dying for some coffee right now…” Josie muttered under her breath and entered inside a café that was near her work. As she made her way towards the counter, her eyes were fixated on the pictures behind it. There was a large menu with the names of many different hot beverages and their prices written on it. Josie was dying for a delicious Latte, an Americano, or just something she hadn’t tried before. This café sold beverages at reasonable prizes, which was great for Josie because her low income didn’t allow her to buy something more expensive. Because the </span><span>brunette</span><span> was concentrated on what she should get, she didn’t notice that someone else was also inside the café, a person she didn’t want to see ever again – the one and only Hope Mikaelson. </span></p>
<p class="western"><span>Surprisingly, the founder and creative director of </span><span>Mikaelson</span><span> &amp; </span><span>Mikaelson</span><span> was spending some quality time with her </span><span>aunt</span><span> Freya. The </span><span>older woman</span><span> had been begging her for the past week for the two of them to go out and Hope had finally agreed because she got tired of hearing her </span><span>aunt’s</span><span> whining. Freya had been looking at some old pictures of her, Hope and their </span><span>family</span><span> because she recently came across them at home while cleaning, which made her wish that her </span><span>niece</span><span> would become how she was before, so the </span><span>older</span> <span>woman</span><span> decided to spend some more time with the </span><span>auburn-haired girl</span><span> and try to make her somewhat happier in hopes that she’d return to how she was, even if it was just a little bit. She knew that it was practically impossible because she had tried many times before. Hell, that was what she had been doing ever since the accident, but had no success. Still, the </span><span>older woman</span><span> didn’t give up hope completely since she knew that Hope would one day recover from that traumatic experience and be how she was again. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Just like her </span>
  <span>niece</span>
  <span>, Freya was also traumatized because of the accident because she lost people that she loved as well. She had a great relationship with her </span>
  <span>brother and his wife,</span>
  <span> and with Hope’s boyfriend </span>
  <span>as well</span>
  <span>, but unlike</span>
  <span> her nice</span>
  <span>, she accepted everything that had happened and decided to move on with her life. “It was meant to be. People die everyday…” </span>
  <span>Freya</span>
  <span> would tell herself after the accident which helped her recover more quickly. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Freya knew that Hope was very different from her. She was always the emotional one and took everything way too seriously. She was the one who would always cry because of trivial and unimportant things like getting a low grade in school or something sad that would happen in movies. Because of that, Freya knew that it would take her </span>
  <span>niece</span>
  <span> more time to recover from the loss of </span>
  <span>her</span>
  <span> parents and her boyfriend, but she didn’t expect it to be this bad. Hope had closed herself off from everyone and had become so emotionless that sometimes it even scared Freya. But the </span>
  <span>blonde woman</span>
  <span> knew that somewhere deep down, her sweet </span>
  <span>niece</span>
  <span> was still there and that one day, she’d return. The only thing she felt that she could do was wait or at least make attempts to bring her back by showing her that someone still cares for her deeply, that despite everything, she still had her </span>
  <span>aunt</span>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>So how’s work going?” Freya asked the girl before bringing the cup of coffee to her mouth and gulping down the last drops of it, the hot liquid going down her throat and making her feel absolutely amazing.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>A bored sigh escaped Hope’s mouth and her eyes then darted to her </span>
  <span>aunt’s</span>
  <span> direction. The two girls had been in that café for about an hour or so and throughout all that time, Freya had desperately tried to strike up a conversation with Hope, but she didn’t have any luck at all because the only thing the </span>
  <span>younger</span>
  <span> girl would do was answer her questions with a couple of words, then start looking at her phone so she could check her Instagram feed and comments on her photos while occasionally taking a few sips of her coffee. Hope wasn’t really paying attention to her </span>
  <span>aunt</span>
  <span> all that much because she obviously felt like reading comments that people had left on her pictures was so much more fun.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>What did you say? I didn’t hear you,” Hope just replied with her normal emotionless voice and waited for Freya to repeat her question. That was probably the hundredth time that the </span><span>girl</span><span> had told her </span><span>aunt</span><span> that she didn’t hear her, making the latter extremely pissed off. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Freya felt like she’d explode any second now. She hated how Hope was acting towards her and had had enough of her goddamn attitude. It hurt the </span>
  <span>older woman</span>
  <span> that she found her phone more interesting than her own </span>
  <span>aunt</span>
  <span>. Freya thought that she should’ve just stood up and left after the first few times Hope didn’t pay attention to her, but she just kept giving her chances because she hoped that she’d realize what she was doing and stop. But even after an hour, things were still the same and Freya finally had enough, so she just said angrily, “You know what?! Forget it. I’m tired of this. I’m just going to get another cup of coffee and leave!”</span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Hope didn’t feel anything when she heard her </span>
  <span>aunt’s</span>
  <span> words. It was like she was completely emotionless and didn’t care about whether or not she spends time with Freya. She knew that she shouldn’t act like this because the </span>
  <span>woman</span>
  <span> was the only family she had left, but throughout the year after the accident, she got used to being this way and so because of that, it didn’t matter to her how she acted.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Fine with me,” Hope just said and then turned her attention to her phone again, while Freya rolled her eyes in annoyance because of her </span><span>niece’s</span><span> response. Sighting, she then made her way to the counter.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie finally ordered something after about five minutes of thinking what to get and then waited for her coffee to be ready. As she stood there, she didn’t want to seem awkward to the other people that were around her, so she decided to look around the café, pretending as if she was searching for someone who was waiting for her. While her eyes were scanning the place, she noticed Hope sitting alone at some table, her attention directed only at her phone. Josie’s whole body stiffened at the sight of the </span>
  <span>auburn-haired</span>
  <span> girl who was just a couple of meters away from her. She hadn’t seen her for a whole week and she wished that she wouldn’t see her ever again, but of course, fate or destiny had to be a bitch and bring them together much to the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span>’s displeasure. Josie looked at Hope and couldn’t help but think that she’s so damn breathtakingly beautiful. She even found herself staring at her gorgeous face. But that was usually something that every person would do when they were in the presence of Hope Mikaelson. </span>
  <span>
    <em>How can such a pretty girl have that kind of horrible attitude? Or is she just nice only to people that she actually likes? Agh, so frustrating… I should stop thinking about her! We’re practically strangers so I shouldn’t care at all…</em>
  </span>
  <span> Josie thought as she continued staring at the girl. Then afterwards, she noticed that there was another cup besides Hope’s and immediately the image of some guy sitting there on the empty seat and smiling at the </span>
  <span>auburn-haired girl</span>
  <span> flashed before her eyes. She then imagined Hope being all sweet to him just like Lizzie told her she was to her and those thoughts pissed Josie off a little because Hope had never even once acted like that towards her for the both times they’ve crossed paths. The girl had only seen her act like a complete bitch. Because of that she kind of had a hard time believing that Hope could actually be nice. But if Lizzie told her that she was, then Josie had no other choice but to believe her. The </span>
  <span>blonde</span>
  <span> was her </span>
  <span>twin sister</span>
  <span> after all and wouldn’t lie to her, especially about things like this.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Miss, your Caramel Macchiato is ready. That’ll be three sixty-five, please…” the woman behind the counter said politely and handed a plastic cup to Josie with a smile on her face. Quickly, the girl took it from her, then got out her wallet and began searching for money so she could pay. She wanted to get out of the café fast before Hope sees her and also, she didn’t want to keep the other customers waiting for long.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie felt her hands shaking and her heart pounding hard against her chest as she started getting the money out of her wallet. She was so nervous that she even dropped a couple of bills and a few coins fell down on the floor. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Shit…” Josie cursed under her breath and bent down, then quickly picked up everything and placed it on the counter. At the same time, she also prayed to God for Hope not to notice her. Luckily for her, the </span><span>auburn-haired</span><span> creative director of </span><span>Mikaelson</span><span> &amp; </span><span>Mikaelson</span><span> was still concentrated on her phone and was smiling to herself as she read all those comments on her Instagram pictures that said how gorgeous she was and how everyone wished they were as beautiful as her.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>After Josie finally paid for her drink, she turned around quickly </span>
  <span>and</span>
  <span> began walking towards the exit as fast as she could. Unfortunately though, another bad thing had to happen to the poor girl. On the way, she accidentally bumped into someone and spilled her coffee all over that person’s white shirt.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Ahhh…” Freya screamed as she felt the extremely hot beverage go through the fabric and make contact with the bare skin of her stomach.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you…” Josie apologized immediately, her eyes wide because of the shock and her legs shaking nervously. The girl then took out some handkerchiefs from her bag and then attempted to clean Freya’s shirt.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>In just mere seconds, the whole café had their attention turned towards the two. Even Hope stopped looking at her phone because she heard her </span>
  <span>aunt’s</span>
  <span> scream. At first, the </span>
  <span>auburn-haired girl</span>
  <span> wasn’t going to get up and help her </span>
  <span>aunt</span>
  <span> because she didn’t want to bother herself with such things. They were stupid in her opinion. But as soon as she saw who the person that had spilled coffee all over Freya was, she immediately stood up from her seat and angrily made her way to the two.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Hey</span><span>! How dare you do that to my </span><span>aunt</span><span>?! Don’t you see where you’re going? First you tell me how to run my clothing stores and now you attack my </span><span>aunt</span><span>. I should have you arrested, </span><span>you bitch</span><span>!” Hope yelled at Josie in anger, the words she was saying making everyone in the café, and especially Freya, gasp in shock. She was a little confused as to how her </span><span>niece</span><span> knew this </span><span>tall brunette</span><span> and why she was getting so angry over something as stupid as this. Hope also didn’t know why she was so mad. She almost never lost her temper, but for some reason she couldn’t control herself around this girl and just kept yelling at her. </span><span><em>Damn it, why is she pissing me off so much?! </em></span><span>Hope wondered as her breathing became heavier and while glaring at Josie as if she would kill her any second. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>It was an accident, alright? I already said that I’m sorry. You don’t have to be so rude…” the </span><span>tall brunette</span><span> defended herself. Josie understood that Hope was angry because she had spilled coffee all over her </span><span>aunt</span><span>, but she didn’t have to yell or call her offensive words. That was too much.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Yes, </span><span>Hope</span><span>… Calm down, please. It’s not that big of a deal. Accidents like this happen,” Freya told her </span><span>niece </span><span>and looked at her with a worried expression. She hadn’t seen Hope this emotional since before the accident. </span><span><em>Whoever this girl is, she sure affects my </em></span><span><em>niece’s</em></span><span><em> emotions a lot…</em></span><span> Freya then thought as she directed her attention to Josie. </span><span><em>Maybe the chance to save her is bigger than I thought.</em></span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Whatever… I’m leaving,” Hope then stated and left the café after throwing some cash on the table that was more than enough to cover her and Freya’s bill.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Again, I’m so sorry for spilling my coffee on you. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?” Josie once again apologized to Freya. </span></p>
<p class="western"><span>T</span><span>he </span><span>older</span> <span>woman</span><span> just waved her arm and said, “Don’t worry about it.”</span></p>
<p class="western"><a id="_GoBack" name="_GoBack"></a> <span>Josie</span><span> then nodded and a minute later proceeded to the exit of the café so she could finally get out of that damn place, while at the same time, vowing in her mind to not step foot inside it ever again.</span></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yet another Hosie confrontation. :D Hope is getting really pissed off around Josie. </p>
<p>Stay tuned for another chapter tomorrow! ^-^</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">Hope was stomping towards her office, her mind racing because of anger and her hands balled up into fists. She was so mad because of what happened a few minutes ago in the café. <em>God, why does this bitch make me so damn angry?! </em>she wondered and then gritted her teeth as images of a certain brunette named Josie flashed before her eyes. Hope didn't know why every single time she would meet her, she'd lose control of her emotions. It was like the girl drove her off the edge, which was something that Hope did not like at all because it reminded her of how she was before her boyfriend and parents passed away. She used to be way too emotional for her liking and let absolutely everything get to her. Hope cringed at the mere thought of being that way. She didn't want to be that person ever again because she liked how she was now - emotionless and not giving a damn about almost everything. It just made her life a whole lot easier.</p><p class="western">As the auburn-haired girl made her way inside her office, all she wanted was to sit on the chair behind her desk and drink that wonderful cup of coffee that her assistant should usually bring her at an exact time every single day. Today, though, when Hope walked inside her office, she didn't see it anywhere on her desk, which made her even angrier than she already was. Gritting her teeth, she then got out of her office again and quickly stomped towards Alyssa's desk.</p><p class="western">As soon as she saw her boss approaching, the girl's eyes grew wide and her legs began shaking because of fear. <em>Why does she seem so angry? </em>Alyssa wondered as she looked at Hope's facial expression that gave off just how mad she actually was. It seemed like the auburn-haired girl was actually throwing daggers with her eyes at the assistant.</p><p class="western">"Alyssa, where the hell is my coffee?" Hope asked her assistant with the scariest voice Alyssa had ever heard in her life.</p><p class="western">"I-I uh... f-forgot to place it on your desk today, Miss Mikaelson..." the poor girl stuttered while Hope just kept looking at her with that same expression, as if she would kill her any second. "M-my family called me and I got distracted. I apologize, Miss Mikaelson!" Alyssa then said afterwards while standing up and bowing at her boss.</p><p class="western">"Where is my coffee now?" Hope asked her a few seconds later and waited for her assistant to give her an answer. Panicking, Alyssa grabbed the cup that was on her own desk and showed it to her boss, then said, "Here it is, Miss Mikaelson. I will take it to your office right away!"</p><p class="western">"No! Give it to me right now!" Hope ordered and her assistant did as she was told, giving her the cup as soon as she heard the auburn-haired girl’s words. Hope took it from Alyssa's hands and then her expression changed to her usual cold one. She then took a step towards her office, which made the assistant sigh in relief because she felt like she was off the hook and Hope wasn't going to scold her for forgetting to place the coffee on her desk. But unfortunately, just as she relaxed a bit, something unexpected happened which shocked her completely. She felt the beverage she gave her boss streaming down her face, making her feel excruciating pain since it was extremely hot. Hope had turned around and poured it all over her poor assistant instead of walking back to her office.</p><p class="western">"Ahhh..." Alyssa whimpered in pain and her breathing became harder as she felt the coffee continue falling down her body, some of it even going under her shirt.</p><p class="western">"Don't ever make this mistake again. Understand?" Hope then said with a voice that sent shivers down her assistant's spine. Alyssa immediately nodded her head multiple times to show her boss that she had indeed understood what she was telling her. As soon as Hope saw that her words got through to Alyssa, she squeezed the now empty plastic cup of coffee with her hand and then threw it on the ground before saying, "Good! Now clean this up and go get me another coffee. I want it on my desk in exactly twenty minutes!"</p><p class="western">After saying that, Hope went back to her office and sat behind her desk. She then opened one of her drawers and took out a bottle of whiskey. She wanted to forget everything that had happened with Josie so far, to get rid of all those emotions she was feeling, and the only thing she could think of that would help was drinking alcohol to her heart's content.</p><p class="western">While Hope was doing that, poor Alyssa just continued standing there, her hair, clothes and face wet and her eyes wide due to shock because of what happened a few seconds ago. She knew that this job was going to be hard when she took it and that her boss Hope was extremely strict, but she didn't expect the woman to go as far as pouring coffee all over her employee. Alyssa was really taken aback by the action but still, despite everything, she loved her job and wasn't going to quit it. In fact, she became even more motivated to do better at it.</p><p class="western">At that moment, Alyssa promised herself that she would never make mistakes like this one again and that she would do anything in her power to be the best assistant and to make her boss proud of her.</p><p class="western"> </p>
<hr/><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Kym opened the door to Josie's grocery store and slowly made her way inside it while singing some random tune to herself at the same time. She wanted to see how her tall friend was doing because she wasn’t able to come to the store for a few days due to being out of town and so, she hadn’t seen Josie and wanted to know if she was alright. After she was inside the store, Kym closed the door behind her, then took a couple of steps towards the counter and looked around, but unfortunately, she didn't see anyone there for some reason. <em>Hmm... That's strange. Where could she be?</em></p><p class="western">"Jo, are you here?" Kym asked and continued scanning the place. Suddenly, as she turned her head back towards the counter, she saw someone come out from under it, startling her because she hadn't expected it.</p><p class="western">Kym's eyes widened in surprise when she saw Lizzie Saltzman, the girl she was madly in love with, standing just a few feet away from her and looking like a beautiful angel, as if she had fallen from Heaven. Kym found the blonde absolutely stunning and the way she was smiling at her made her heart melt.</p><p class="western">"Hey Kym, I'm sorry if I startled you. I was rearranging some stuff for Jo, trying to help her out as much as I can..." Kym heard the girl say but her mind wasn't processing the sentences. She just heard her speak but wasn't paying attention to what she was saying at all because she was too mesmerized by Lizzie’s beauty and was left completely speechless. They've had conversations before, but Kym hadn't seen the blonde in a long time, so the fact that they were face to face at that exact moment, took the girl's breath away. It sort of reminded her of the first time they met actually. It was in the grocery store and just as Kym was coming in, she saw Lizzie dropping a jar of pickles on the ground. Of course, the girl immediately went to go help her and after they picked up all the pickles off the floor, Lizzie looked at Kym with that beautiful smile of hers and thanked her for helping. That was the moment that Kym became totally captivated by her and afterwards, when Lizzie told her her name, the first time Kym heard it, she thought that it the perfect one for an angel.</p><p class="western">"Kym? Is everything alright? Don't tell me I have something on my face," Lizzie said after a few seconds, snapping Kym from the trance she was apparently in. Panicking, she then took out a mirror and started looking at herself, checking if there’s anything wrong.</p><p class="western">"Huh? Oh... No, no! You don't! Your face is perfect, Liz!" the girl told her, making Lizzie let out a relieved sigh. The blonde chuckled cutely right after that and then said, "Awww... You're so sweet."</p><p class="western">Kym felt her cheeks burning the moment she heard Lizzie’s words and she immediately looked away in embarrassment.</p><p class="western">"Where's Jo by the way?" Kym asked afterwards and then began walking around the store, pretending as if she was searching for something, while at the same time, still not looking at Lizzie so the girl wouldn’t see that she was blushing.</p><p class="western">“Ahh, well, our dork went to the bathroom, so I’m filling in for her in case any customers arrive,” Lizzie replied normally, but as she was speaking, she suddenly remembered that Kym had come into the store and felt stupid for not thinking that she might actually want to purchase something. So then the blonde said right after, “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want to buy something?”</p><p class="western">“I just came to see how Jo’s doing,“ Kym told Lizzie and picked up something random from one of the shelves. “I haven’t seen her because I was out of town for a while, taking care of some business. Is she alright?”</p><p class="western">“She’s okay. You have nothing to be worried about,” Lizziere assured the girl and continued rearranging stuff.</p><p class="western">A few minutes later, the two began wondering why Josie was taking so long. They were going to check on her but just as they were about to, the brunette came out of the bathroom.</p><p class="western">As soon as her eyes landed on Kym, Josie smiled because she hadn’t seen her friend in a while and she had missed her a lot.</p><p class="western">“Hey Kym, I didn’t know you were here. How are you? How’s MG doing? Is he feeling better?” the brunette said afterwards.</p><p class="western">Kym just replied, “I’m okay and he’s fine. He’s not sick anymore.”</p><p class="western">“That’s good. I guess your pancakes did the trick, huh? It’s all thanks to the products you bought from me!” Josie told her and a wide grin spread across her face.</p><p class="western">“Shut up, dork!” Kym just replied, making the brunette and Lizzie both chuckle.</p><p class="western">“Damn, I think I clogged the toilet…” Josie said a few seconds later out of the blue and moved next to Lizzie.</p><p class="western">“Ewww Jo!” Lizzie then yelled out and made a disgusted face as soon as she heard her sister’s words. Sometimes Josie would say everything that was on her mind, no matter how inappropriate it was. “I’m never going in there again.”</p><p class="western">“You clogged it because you mostly eat junk food, idiot. You should try changing the burgers and pizza to broccoli or something else that’s healthier,” Kym told the brunette and laughed. As soon as she heard her friend’s words, the girl’s expression changed immediately to a disgusted one because of the mention of the word broccoli.</p><p class="western">“No thanks. I’d rather clog the toilet than eat that horrible green thing…” Josie replied afterwards while Kym continued laughing.</p><p class="western">“You’re so weird, Jo…” the girl said as soon as she calmed down a bit.</p><p class="western">“All this talk of food made me hungry. Let’s go somewhere and eat lunch. I’m starving…” Josie told Lizzie and Kym happily while rubbing her belly.</p><p class="western">“Fine, but let’s not go to that place we went last time. I didn’t like how that old man that served us was looking at me,” the blonde said and grabbed her bag. “I swear, he was undressing me with his eyes.”</p><p class="western">“Alright, we won’t go to places with pervy grandpa waiters!” Josie reassured her twin and then quickly grabbed her keys. Afterwards, the brunette locked up the store and the three girls headed out for lunch.</p><p class="western"> </p>
<hr/><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A tall and very well-built man knocked on the door that led to Hope Mikaelson’s office. He then waited patiently for her to open it or to tell him to come in. When that didn’t happen, though, the man decided to just walk inside the office and see whether she was there or not. The door wasn’t locked, so he freely went in. Sadly though, he was greeted by an ugly sight that no one wishes to see, one of a gorgeous woman passed out on her desk with empty bottles of alcohol all around her. It was a horrible thing to see indeed. A long sigh escaped the man’s mouth as he then made his way towards the beautiful auburn-haired woman which was so helpless at that moment that anyone could take advantage of her.</p><p class="western">“Tsk, tsk, tsk… What am I going to do with you?” he muttered under his breath and then placed his hand on Hope’s shoulder, shaking her afterwards so she could wake up. But unfortunately, she didn’t and just continued sleeping soundly. The man then decided to try a different approach. He grabbed the vase that was also on the desk and removed the flowers in it, then threw the water which was inside of it directly at Hope’s face. Immediately after that, the girl woke up.</p><p class="western">“Ughh…” the ice princess grunted and opened her eyes. “God, my head hurts so badly.”</p><p class="western"><a id="_GoBack" name="_GoBack"></a> “Drink some aspirin and you’ll be fine, gorgeous…” the man told her and sat down on one of the free chairs next to the desk.</p><p class="western">“What are you doing here, Landon?” Hope asked him as she took some pills out of her cabinet.</p><p class="western">“Oh, you remember my name? Wonderful!” Landon said and chuckled afterwards. “I came to take you out on a date. Let’s have lunch together!”</p><p class="western">“No, thanks…” Hope just replied and leaned back in her chair. Her eyes were closed and her hand was on her forehead.</p><p class="western">“I wasn’t asking. Now get ready and let’s go out…” Landon insisted and the auburn-haired girl just sighed. She really didn’t want to argue with this annoying guy at the moment because her head was killing her way too much. So in the end she just agreed to go out with him.</p><p class="western">“Fine, whatever…” Hope then said and stood up from her seat. She then walked inside the bathroom that was in her office in order to freshen up a bit. A few minutes later, when she was done, she put on her sunglasses, grabbed her purse and walked out of the office with Landon following behind her like a puppy with a huge grin on his face.</p><p class="western"> </p>
<hr/><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Hope and Landon made their way inside a small restaurant near Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson’s building and sat at one of the free tables. The auburn-haired girl didn’t take her sunglasses off because she had planned to sleep during the date while Landon was talking about something that didn’t interest her.</p><p class="western">A few minutes after they sat down, a waiter came and gave them each a menu so they’d choose what to eat out of all the wonderful dishes which the restaurant offered. Hope picked the first thing she saw on the menu because she really didn’t care at that moment about what she would eat, while Landon took his time in choosing since he was a really picky eater.</p><p class="western">While the man was wondering what to order, Hope suddenly stiffened because she heard a familiar voice coming from behind her, one that she wanted so badly to forget, the voice of the one and only Josie Saltzman, the girl that had been driving her completely insane lately.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Agh, Hope is suchhh a bitch here... I feel so bad for poor Alyssa... :( </p><p>Hope you enjoyed the chapter! &lt;3 Stay tuned for more!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">"Shut up, Kym... It's not that insane to talk to inanimate objects," Josie told Kym, who accused her of being a complete weirdo for having conversations with her jars of tomatoes and all the other types of food at her grocery store. "Might I remind you that I once saw you talking to the Mickey Mouse wallpaper on your phone?!"</p>
<p class="western">"That's completely different, Jo! My cute little Mickey is like a real living being, while your tomatoes are... uh... well, not like that... They're small and round, and sure as hell cannot talk!" Kym defended herself with the most stupid argument ever. She blurted out such bullshit that Josie couldn't help but laugh at her.</p>
<p class="western">"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," the brunette said through fits of laughter while clutching her stomach at the same time.</p>
<p class="western">"It's not! I'm right, so don't argue with me!" Kym continued defending herself and hit Josie on the shoulder, not too hard of course.</p>
<p class="western">"Alright, alright, if you say so, crazy Kym..." the tall girl then just replied and continued laughing while rubbing the spot where Kym had hit her.</p>
<p class="western">Hope was listening to these two's conversation and kept wondering who the other girl with Josie was. She wanted so badly to turn around and see because she was very curious, but she managed to refrain from doing so. <em>Ugh, this girl's completely insane? She's even talking to food? What kind of person does such a thing? She obviously needs to see a therapist or should go to a mental institution to get some help. No wonder she drives me insane. It's because she herself is mentally unstable! </em>Hope thought and rolled her eyes. Unlike her, who was paying so much attention to the girls' conversation, Landon was still trying to choose what to eat and was completely ignoring everything that was happening around him.</p>
<p class="western">"Let's go sit over there!" Lizzie, who was also with Josie and Kym, suddenly said after staying quiet all that time because she was trying to decide which one of the vacant tables they should choose. Luckily for Hope, the blonde didn't see her because she was looking only in the other side of the restaurant since there were only free tables there.</p>
<p class="western"><em>Shit, Lizzie is also with them...</em> Hope cursed in her mind and then began praying that the table her friend had chosen wasn't somewhere near her and Landon's or else Lizzie would see her and ask to join them, which would be really bad because then she'd have to act all nice in order to not ruin her reputation.</p>
<p class="western">When the three girls' voices started to become fainter and fainter with each passing second, Hope realized that they were going somewhere far away from her and sighed in relief. But she knew that she had to get out of that restaurant at all cost. <em>I need to tell this guy that we must leave and go somewhere else. I don't want them to see me…</em> Hope thought and then opened her mouth to speak, but just as she was about to say something, Landon beat her to it by blurting out, “I figured out what I want to order!” He said it with such enthusiasm, as if he was a little kid.</p>
<p class="western">“Uh huh…” a seemingly uninterested Hope just replied. “Let’s go somewhere else. I don’t like this place,” she then said afterwards. The only thing the girl cared about at the moment was getting out of that stupid restaurant, so she didn’t give a damn about what Landon wanted to order.</p>
<p class="western">Unfortunately for her though, Landon completely ignored her because he was too busy waving at someone he so happened to know. The man then motioned with his hand for the other person to come to their table. Hope instinctively turned her head around and saw that Landon was waving to none other than a certain blonde she was trying to hide from. <em>Oh shit…</em> Hope cursed in her mind because she knew that she was screwed now. <em>I had no idea that these two </em><em>knew</em><em> each other…</em></p>
<p class="western">“Hope, I want to introduce you to my best friend’s girlfriend. She and her friends are going to join us in a minute,” Landon informed the auburn-haired girl and smiled happily. <em>Great, just great! This day just can’t get any worse…</em> Hope thought after hearing his words. She wanted badly to bang her head hard against the table at that moment.</p>
<p class="western">A few minutes later, Lizzie and the others came to Hope and Landon’s table. The moment the auburn-haired girl noticed her friend, she immediately began squealing in excitement as if she hadn’t seen Hope for a very long time.</p>
<p class="western">“Oh my god, Hope! Hey! I feel like it’s been ages since we last saw each other!” Lizzie said and threw her arms around Hope’s body, hugging her tightly.</p>
<p class="western">“We saw each other the other day, Liz…” the auburn-haired girl just told her and let out a fake little chuckle, one that made her feel disgusted with herself. She usually hated that annoying sound.</p>
<p class="western">“Oh, I guess there’s no need for introductions then, since you two know each other,” Landon said afterwards and then called the waiter so he could order his food.</p>
<p class="western">“Oh, I think that Kym is the only one that Hope doesn’t know…” Lizzie noted after hearing his words and with a huge smile on her beautiful face then said while looking at her friend and pointing at Hope at the same time,”Kym, this is Hope Mikaelson, the founder and creative director of Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson.”</p>
<p class="western">“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Kym Hawkins…” the girl introduced herself and stretched her arm out so Hope could shake it.</p>
<p class="western">“Nice to meet you too…” Hope then said with a fake smile after grabbing Kym’s hand and shaking it slightly. She wished that she didn’t have to pretend to be someone else while around Lizzie, but she had no choice. Her company was one of the most important things in her life, so she greatly valued its reputation and would do absolutely anything to protect it.</p>
<p class="western">“Would anyone else like to order something?” the waiter suddenly asked after writing down Landon’s order.</p>
<p class="western">“Yes, please!” Lizzie screamed enthusiastically as she grabbed a free chair from a nearby table, then placed it next to Hope and sat down. “I want some chicken soup.”</p>
<p class="western">Josie and Kym each got a chair as well and both sat next to each other, right in front of Lizzie and Hope, then told the waiter their orders. The tall brunette felt sick to her stomach and wasn’t in the mood for eating after seeing Hope, so she just ordered something to drink.<em> Why do I keep running into her like this? Damn, why can’t I just not see her ever again?</em></p>
<p class="western">But as much as Josie didn’t like Hope and didn’t want to be in her presence, she still felt the need that she should apologize again for spilling coffee all over her aunt that morning. Unfortunately, when she opened her mouth and tried to speak, she couldn’t say a word to the auburn-haired girl. Josie felt tongue-tied and in the end decided that she would just wait. She had to stop feeling guilty about it eventually anyway. It was inevitable.</p>
<p class="western">“Why did you order only orange juice? I thought you were starving?” Kym suddenly asked, snapping Josie out of her thoughts.</p>
<p class="western">“I kind of lost my appetite,” the brunette just replied and her eyes darted to Hope who was also looking at her and clenching her fists under the table. Josie really knew how to push the girl’s buttons since Hope was already boiling with anger.</p>
<p class="western">“Awww, poor baby Jo… You lost your appetite…” Kym said with the cutest voice ever and pinched both of Josie’s cheeks.</p>
<p class="western">“Hey! Let go…” the brunette yelled and then glared at her friend. She hated when Kym would act as if she was a little child.</p>
<p class="western">Hope watched as the two girls interacted with each other and felt angry at the sight of them. Angry because she was jealous of the relationship they had. But not because she liked Josie or anything and wished Kym would back off so she could have her all to herself. She was jealous because it reminded her so much of how she and her boyfriend Roman used to act with each other. He would always pinch her cheeks like that. At that moment, images of them together flashed before Hope’s eyes. She remembered many cute and lovely moments she had with Roman. She missed him so much. She wanted to feel his hands touch her body again, his lips on her neck. She just wanted him again, but he was gone and would never return. Suddenly, Hope then stood up from her seat, startling everyone with her action.</p>
<p class="western">“Is everything alright, Hope?” Lizzie asked her as she was concerned for her friend.</p>
<p class="western">“I need to go to the bathroom…” Hope just replied with a shaky voice and ran off to the restaurant’s WC.</p>
<p class="western"><em>What happened to her all of a sudden? She seemed fine a minute ago…</em> Josie thought and raised an eyebrow while looking at Hope’s back as the girl went inside the bathroom. She might dislike her a lot, but she’s still human and feels really bad when she sees someone in pain. And Hope was obviously not okay. Usually, when Josie sees someone that’s struggling, she feels the need to help them. Right at that moment, she wanted to help Hope, to make her feel better, even if she didn’t deserve it at all.</p>
<p class="western">“That was weird… I think I should go check on her,” Lizzie then told everyone and moved her chair back so she could stand up.</p>
<p class="western">“No, Liz… I’ll go see if she’s alright. I need to go to the bathroom as well anyways,” Josie suddenly said and afterwards stood up from her seat. The blonde widened her eyes in surprise as she didn’t expect her sister to actually be willing to do something like that for Hope since she knew that both of them didn’t really get along.</p>
<p class="western">“Are you sure, Jo? I know that you and Hope aren’t on good terms…” Lizzie asked Josie to make sure if she was really serious about this.</p>
<p class="western">“Yeah, don’t worry,” the brunette just answered quickly and then ran towards the bathroom, leaving her twin completely dumbfounded. <em>What’s up with her today?</em> Lizzie wondered as she brought her chair closer to the table again. <em>Did she and Hope settle their issues with one another?</em></p>
<p class="western">As soon as Josie stepped foot inside the restaurant’s bathroom, she heard a very disturbing sound coming from one of the stalls. It was of a girl that was crying her eyes out and it made the brunette’s heart break into millions of pieces. She would always feel like that when someone was crying.</p>
<p class="western">After her boyfriend and parents passed away, Hope stopped showing her emotions, but there was something going on with her lately and she just couldn’t help it. Ever since meeting Josie, she’d often lose control of herself. She didn’t really know why the brunette had that effect on her, but she didn’t like it at all.</p>
<p class="western">“I don’t want to be like I used to. I don’t! Stupid Hope… Get a hold of yourself!” the auburn-haired girl spoke out loud to herself without having any idea that Josie was inside the bathroom as well and could hear her.</p>
<p class="western"><em>She must’ve went through something terrible… </em>Josie thought and started pitying Hope even more. <em>Maybe I should let her know that I’m here and try to find out what happened to her.</em></p>
<p class="western">A few minutes later, after much thinking, the brunette finally decided to open her mouth and was about to call out Hope’s name, but before she could, the door to the bathroom stall in which the crying girl was in suddenly opened. Then the creative director of Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson walked out of it, looking emotionless as always, as if nothing had happened.</p>
<p class="western">“Everything alright?” she asked the girl as soon as their eyes made contact with each other.</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Why do you even care? We’re strangers to </span><span>one another</span><span>,” Hope replied coldly, making Josie kind of regret that she even felt sorry for her a few minutes ago. </span></p>
<p class="western">“I just feel bad for you… I heard you crying back there,” the taller girl then said with a slightly concerned tone. “Even if we’re not really fond of each other, I still want to help you because you’re a human being in need. I can’t just sit back and do nothing when someone’s in pain…”</p>
<p class="western">Hope’s eyes widened in surprise the moment she heard the brunette’s words. She had never met anyone like Josie before. Despite what a bitch she was towards her, she still wanted to help her. It wasn’t hard to figure out that the girl was really kind-hearted. But Hope knew that she shouldn’t let someone like that into her life. <em>She’s affecting my emotions way too much. I have to make her stay away from me once and for all. </em></p>
<p class="western">The auburn-haired ice princess’s expression turned back to her usual emotionless one afterwards and she then said to Josie, “Well, stop whatever it is you’re feeling. Don’t concern yourself with me.” After saying that, Hope went passed Josie and grabbed the handle of the door, then opened it so she could leave the bathroom. Before she stepped foot outside of it, though, she turned her head to the brunette’s direction and said what she thought would be the final words she’d ever say to her, “The next time we meet, pretend that you don’t know me.”</p>
<p class="western">Hope then walked out of the bathroom and went back to the table where Landon, Lizzie and Kym were happily eating.</p>
<p class="western">Lizzie raised an eyebrow when she saw Hope alone and not with a certain auburn-haired girl by her side.</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>
    <em>Didn’t Josie check on her?</em>
  </span>
  <span> the </span>
  <span>blonde</span>
  <span> wondered. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Ugh, I knew this would happen. I should’ve gone in and saw how Hope was myself…</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“I’m not feeling very well, so I will go…” Hope just told them and grabbed her bag.</p>
<p class="western">“What’s wrong? Need me to walk you home?” Landon asked her, but the auburn-haired girl just shook her head.</p>
<p class="western">“No, it’s okay. My aunt is outside waiting for me. I called her to come and pick me up…” Hope answered and Landon nodded before turning his attention to his food again. She was lying, of course. Freya wasn’t outside and Hope wasn’t going back home. She would go to her office and drown herself in alcohol once more.</p>
<p class="western">Hope bid the three of them goodbye afterwards and left the restaurant. A few minutes later, Josie finally came out of the bathroom and went back to the table without saying a word. She immediately noticed that Hope was nowhere in sight, but she didn’t dare ask where she went. Lizzie and Kym quickly figured out that something was up with Josie, but they didn’t say anything because they didn’t want to pressure her to talk, while Landon was just eating his food and occasionally asking the blonde questions about her boyfriend Rafael.</p>
<p class="western"><em>Well, at least I got my wish. I won’t talk to her ever again… But why do I feel so bad? Why do I want to help her so much even though she doesn’t deserve it? </em>Josie thought while staring at the glass of juice in front of her.</p>
<p class="western">While everyone else was eating, the brunette had probably a million different thoughts running through her head, all of them about none other than Hope Mikaelson.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Welp, things are bad between Hosie yet again. :D Don't worry, though. Shit will get better very soon.</p>
<p>Thank you for reading, commenting, leaving kudos, etc! &lt;3  I appreciate it!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Uploading this a bit earlier than usual. :D </p>
<p>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The moon was shining brightly and all those millions of stars in the sky gave off that wonderful romantic feeling. It was one of those nights which were perfect for couples to go out and take a walk, enjoying each other’s company under the beautiful sky. On that night, Josie was closing her grocery store at ten thirty in the evening. It was surprising how late it was when she was doing it, because usually, she would close it at eight o’clock in the evening at max, never later than that. If you’re wondering why it was different that night, it was because, for some unbelievable reason, the brunette had many customers the past couple of days.</p>
<p>As she closed the door and turned the key in order to lock up, a wide smile grazed her beautiful face. Josie had started earning a lot more money than usual and was very satisfied that business was picking up. She finally felt as if she would stop relying on Lizzie for cash and that she could start taking care of herself.</p>
<p>A few seconds later, Josie tried opening the door once again in order to check if it’s locked. We can’t have someone going in just like that now, can we? Then, when she was a hundred percent certain that it was indeed locked, she placed the keys in her pocket and began walking towards her and Lizzie’s shared apartment. The girl was taking small steps one by one as usual. As each foot hit the ground, Josie’s eyes looked around the area. She had been taking this path for years, ever since she moved in with Lizzie. Her surroundings were horrible to be honest. Some of the tiles on the sidewalk were broken and there were holes at places, but Josie didn’t really care. In fact, she kind of thought of it as beautiful because it was unique. This place had been her home for many years and she had reserved a spot for it in her heart, just like she did with all her important belongings. The girl was a person who thought of everything in a special way and cherished it very much, especially stuff given to her by her friends and family. Sometimes though, if someone saw her, they would think that she’s mentally insane because she goes a bit overboard. Once, she received some rice crackers as a Christmas present from her grandma and when she finished eating them, she washed the wrapping, waited for it to dry, and then placed it inside her bag where she would keep it until she grows old and wrinkly…</p>
<p>As Josie continued walking, eventually she knew that she would pass Hope’s clothing store. She could always take another way to her house, but she didn’t want to. She’s been walking down that path for years and she wouldn’t change that just because of someone she didn’t want to see. <em>I’ve been passing through this place for years but why haven’t I seen Hope before? This first time I saw her was a few weeks ago when I decided to buy that dress.</em> Josie then began wondering about their meeting. <em>Maybe I just haven’t noticed her before? That’s kind of weird because Hope is a beautiful woman. I would’ve definitely noticed a beautiful woman in a clothing store. </em></p>
<p>“Ahh, stop thinking about this Josie…” the girl spoke out loud to herself. “It doesn’t matter, just forget about that woman! You’re not going to interact with her anymore!”</p>
<p>A long sigh escaped Josie’s mouth and she continued walking towards the apartment. Taking a right turn, the brunette was then a few meters away from Hope’s clothing store. From there, she noticed that the lights inside were on.</p>
<p>“Why is the store working so late?” Josie muttered under her breath and raised an eyebrow in confusion. “It should’ve been closed by now.”</p>
<p>The brunette then started moving closer, taking slow and small steps towards it, expecting Hope come into view inside the place. But something felt off. As Josie came near, she saw some broken glass on the ground in front of the store. So many little pieces were scattered which made the girl stop in her tracks. Her eyes then looked at the window and noticed that it was broken as well. Fear suddenly struck her, paralyzing her whole body. Something bad had happened. Josie stood still, her body frozen for a few seconds, until finally, one person invaded her mind – Hope. <em>What if she’s inside? What if something happened to her?</em> As those disturbing thoughts crossed her mind, Josie immediately panicked and ran inside the store. She was worried about the girl and prayed that she was alright.</p>
<p>As soon as the brunette stepped inside the clothing store, she noticed that some of the clothes were stolen and there were broken bottles on the ground. There was no sign of Hope though, which made Josie sigh in relief. <em>Thank god she wasn’t here when the store was robbed.</em></p>
<p>Quickly, the girl took her phone out and began dialing the police’s number, but before she could hit the green dial button, she heard a strange sound coming from behind the counter. Someone was there and they were sobbing. While still holding the phone in her hand, Josie moved closer. As she did, she noticed some empty boxes of jewelry on the ground and a beautiful auburn-haired woman down on her knees, her face hidden in her hands.</p>
<p>“Oh my god… Hope…” Josie uttered as her eyes widened in shock. Without giving it a second thought, the girl then rushed towards Hope, fell on her knees, and just wrapped her arms around her body. She didn’t care that they dislike each other. At that moment, what Josie saw wasn’t a woman with a terrible personality, but a human in pain and she wanted nothing more than to help her.</p>
<p>Hope felt a pair of arms wrap around her body and for some reason, this immediately calmed the girl down. She felt safe there in Josie’s embrace. It was something she hadn’t experienced in a long time. Only her deceased boyfriend Roman was able to make her feel this way, but now, Josie was too. Hope was surprised and she knew that she should push the girl away. Her brain was telling her to, but her heart was preventing her from doing that. Her instincts were screaming for her to let Josie help her, despite the fact that she supposedly dislikes her. Hope couldn’t believe that the girl just happened to arrive right when she needed someone the most.</p>
<p>The robbery was a very traumatic experience which came second only after the car accident where her parents and boyfriend Roman had died. Hope just came to the store that night to drink and forget all her problems, but as she was gulping down the first glass of whiskey, some masked men just happened to break into the store and steal whatever they could find. They got the most expensive clothes, some jewelry that was displayed next to the counter and even stole a pearl necklace which Hope wore around her neck. It was a gift from her mother for her 21<sup>st</sup> birthday and was something that was very special to Hope, but these thugs took it from her. Hope screamed and tried calling the police, but they took her phone and threatened to kill her. The girl couldn’t do anything, so she just stopped resisting and let them take whatever they desired. Eventually they got out of there and Hope was left alone on the floor, sobbing among all those broken bottles and empty jewelry boxes.</p>
<p><a id="__DdeLink__75_2057637332" name="__DdeLink__75_2057637332"></a> Hope moved her hands away from her face and slid them down Josie’s shoulders, wrapping them around the girl’s body. She then buried her head in the brunette’s neck and continued crying her eyes out. At the same time, Josie whispered soothing words in Hope’s ear, telling her that everything would be alright, that whoever did this would be found and thrown in jail. She promised her that she would personally see that they’d pay for what they did to her…</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>“They were three very large men and they had black masks on. I have no idea who they were,” Hope explained to the police officer. “I didn’t recognize any of their voices.”</p>
<p>“It could be a random robbery, miss. They’ve been happening quite a lot in this area recently,” the man told her and wrote something down on his notepad. “We’ll make sure that the culprits are caught. Don’t worry, miss. You just go home and rest now. My men will take it from here.”</p>
<p>Hope just nodded her head and the police officer went back inside the store. For a while she just stood there and looked at those men inside her store scanning for footprints and anything suspicious. Suddenly, the auburn-haired girl jumped as she was startled by someone who placed a hand on her shoulder.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry. It’s me,” Josie told Hope and gently moved her hand down the length of the girl’s arm. “You feel better now?” she asked her then and Hope just nodded without saying a word. “That’s a relief. Come on… Let me take you home.”</p>
<p>Slowly, the two made their way to Hope’s car. The girl let Josie drive it because she was in no condition to do it herself.</p>
<p>“Where do you live?” the brunette asked but Hope didn’t say anything. She was just looking at something random through the window. “Hope?” Josie said her name, but still, she was unresponsive. A few seconds later, she finally got the girl’s attention by placing a hand on her shoulder.</p>
<p>“Oh… I’m sorry, I spaced out…” Hope apologized to the girl. “I live on 125-1 Starling Street.”</p>
<p>“Oh, I know where that is,” Josie replied and then turned her attention to the car.</p>
<p><em>God, she’s so polite now. The way she talks is so different than I’m used to.</em> Josie thought as she started the vehicle. Hope’s behavior now was the complete opposite of the one Josie knew. Before she took off, she looked at the girl next to her again and realized that underneath that cold ice princess appearance stood a fragile little girl who just needed someone to protect her.</p>
<p>The ride was silent, but thankfully not the bad awkward kind. It took about fifteen to thirty minutes and they were in front of Hope’s apartment. Both of them then got out of the car and Josie walked with Hope to the entrance of the building.</p>
<p>“Well, this is it. I’ll be going now. Take care of yourself, Hope, okay? I’ll call you tomorrow to see how you are,” Josie told her and then turned around to leave, but the other girl suddenly grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks. The brunette turned around, her eyes wide in shock, and looked at the woman before her.</p>
<p>“Can you please stay with me tonight? My aunt Freya is out of town, visiting a friend. I don’t want to be alone…” Hope asked, her voice shaky as if she was going to break down crying any minute.</p>
<p>“Alright, I will, don’t worry…” Josie replied and then both of them walked inside the building with Hope still holding on to the girl’s hand, afraid that if she were to let go, then she would be left alone again.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think there are some clean sheets in here,” Hope said and opened a wardrobe in the guestroom. Indeed, she was right. There were some in there.</p>
<p>“Thanks,” Josie told her a few seconds later when the girl handed the sheets to her.</p>
<p>Hope was then going to leave the room, but before stepping out, she turned around and asked the other girl, “Why did you help me today even though you hate me? You should’ve just left me there to suffer because of how I treated you since the day we met.”</p>
<p>“I could never leave someone like that no matter how badly they’ve treated me in the past,” Josie replied and looked at Hope whose expression immediately changed to a shocked one. “And I don’t really hate you… I understand that you had your reasons for treating me that way. You’ve gone through something horrible and you’ve closed yourself off to everyone. You don’t let anyone get through that barrier you’ve set up and you push them away.”</p>
<p><em>How can she read me so well?</em> Hope wondered as she continued staring at Josie who had now stood up from the bed she was sitting on and was moving closer to the other girl. Before Hope knew it, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her body for the second time that night.</p>
<p>“Let me help you, Hope…” Josie whispered in the girl’s ear. She thought she had lost her mind, saying such things to the woman who until a few hours ago she thought she wouldn’t see again and who asked her to pretend that they don’t know each other. The brunette couldn’t believe that circumstances could change so quickly. In just a matter of minutes, everything became different. One night, one event, and nothing was the same after that.</p>
<p>Hope hugged the girl back and rested her head on her shoulder. Closing her eyes, she then uttered, “Thank you…”</p>
<p>She hadn’t said those two words to someone in such a long time so the girl couldn’t believe that all of this was actually happening. <em>You probably came into my life for a reason, Josie. Maybe you will be the person who would save me from my loneliness and can heal my heart…</em> Hope thought as she continued hugging the other girl.</p>
<p>A minute later, the two pulled away and wished each other good night before going to their respective beds.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Josie couldn’t sleep that night as her mind was full of thoughts about everything that had happened. She was thinking about the day she met Hope and how awfully they interacted with each other. Oh what a bitch she was at that time, treating her employee badly and Josie herself as well. Then her thoughts went to that time when they met at the fashion show, when she caught her making out with her bodyguard Vince. She kept thinking about all the times they met till this very night when everything changed, when she saw a different side of Hope Mikaelson she had never seen before, a sweet and gentle one that she wanted to see all the time.</p>
<p>A few hours passed and Hope was stirring in her sleep. She was having that nightmare about her parents and Roman’s deaths again. But this time, it was also mixed with another nightmare, one about the robbery at her store. She felt the masked men’s hands holding her tight and pushing her hard against the wall behind her. She dreamt about them pulling her hair, ripping her clothes off and doing all sorts of other horrible things to her. Eventually, Hope woke up panting, her whole body drenched in sweat. She was scared and she was shaking so bad that the only thing she wanted was someone to come and hug her tight, to soothe her aching heart. But she didn’t expect Josie to do it because the girl had no idea of the nightmare that Hope had just had. The auburn-haired girl then got out of bed and slowly made her way to the guest room, deciding that she’d go to her instead.</p>
<p>As soon as Hope walked inside the room, Josie pulled herself up in a sitting position on the bed and asked, “What’s wrong?”</p>
<p>Hope moved closer to her and answered, “I had a nightmare…” She then sat on the bed next to Josie, but then realized that the girl actually wasn’t sleeping at all, so she said, “Wait, why aren’t you asleep?”</p>
<p>“I couldn’t…” the tall brunette just answered.</p>
<p>“Oh…” Hope just uttered. “Can I stay here with you then? Since we both can’t go to sleep…”</p>
<p>“It’s your house. You can do whatever you want…” Josie just said and chuckled. That small laugh made Hope smile as well. It was the first time she had genuinely smiled since the accident and this girl who was practically a stranger to her managed to do that.</p>
<p>“What was your nightmare about?” the brunette then asked, making Hope’s expression change again immediately.</p>
<p>“It… It was about an accident that happened a year ago and about the robbery today,” the other girl replied without looking at Josie.</p>
<p>“If you want to talk about it, I’m here to listen. It might make you feel better,” the tall brunette then said and Hope just sighed. <em>I might as well tell her. I can’t continue running from the past anyway…</em></p>
<p><a id="_GoBack" name="_GoBack"></a> On that night Hope told Josie everything about her parents and boyfriend, how happy they were and how tragic their fate was. They talked till four in the morning until Hope fell asleep in Josie’s arms. She was hugging her because the girl had begun crying while telling her about her past. In the end, Josie let Hope rest on the bed and placed a blanket over her body so she wouldn’t be cold. She then lied down next to her and just began watching her sleep for hours until eventually she went off to dreamland as well. While looking at her though, Josie couldn’t help but feel bad for the fact that such a beautiful girl had gone through something so traumatizing, twice even. Before she fell asleep, Josie vowed that she’d never let anything bad happen to Hope again, that she’d protect her no matter what the cost…</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>One event can change everything... </p>
<p>Thank you for reading! &lt;3 Stay tuned for the next chapter tomorrow!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bright sun rays came shining through the window, lighting up almost every part of Hope’s guestroom. Morning had come fast and had left just as quickly. It was already twelve o’clock, a time at which most people have already started their day and were probably working or on their lunch break. At this time of day, two figures were still sprawled on the bed, sleeping soundly without a single care in the world.</p><p>Feeling something tickling her nose, Josie slowly opened her eyes and was met with a strand of Hope’s beautiful auburn hair. Careful not to wake the other girl, Josie delicately moved it aside, at the same time uncovering not only her own face, but the sleeping girl’s as well. The brunette stared into Hope’s beautiful angelic face, which was so close that she could practically feel the girl’s breath on her skin, warming part of it up with every exhale. She was snuggled so close to Josie and was hugging her waist, making the tall brunette unable to break free and get up from the bed. She was completely immobilized by Hope, but she wasn’t complaining at all. In fact, she was enjoying it a lot. Josie felt like she couldn’t take her eyes off the beautiful ice princess. She thought that Hope seemed so peaceful while sleeping and even more gorgeous than when she’s awake. To her, she was like an actual angel sent from Heaven with a task to light up people’s lives, and in this case – hers.</p><p>As Josie continued watching the beautiful girl sleep, she noticed a pair of lovely blue orbs slowly come into view as Hope began opening her eyelids. The beautiful ice princess woke up a few seconds later and the first thing she saw was an adorable face looking at her.</p><p>“Good morning,” Josie said without taking her eyes off of Hope, her voice soft and gentle like none the other girl had ever heard before.</p><p>“Mmm…” was all Hope could say, or should we say moan. She wasn’t really the type of person who would talk in the morning after waking up. That changed, though, as soon as she realized the position she and Josie were in and how close she actually was to the other girl. “Oh god, I’m so sorry…” she apologized afterwards, then quickly let go of Josie’s waist and moved her face away in embarrassment.</p><p>“It’s okay, don’t worry. I don’t really mind,” Josie said and chuckled at Hope’s adorable behavior. Honestly, she still couldn’t believe how drastically the girl changed after what happened. Hell, Hope couldn’t even understand it herself, why and how everything became as it is. She wasn’t able to comprehend why Josie was different than anyone else who had tried to help her after her parents and boyfriend died and how come this girl that she barely knew could unlock so many feelings hidden inside of her body. Hope didn’t know, but somehow she felt that she did the right thing by giving in to her emotions and letting Josie break through the barriers she had set up around her heart. “How did you sleep by the way?” Hope then heard the other girl ask after a couple of seconds.</p><p>“I slept well… I think this was probably the best sleep I’ve had since the car accident,” Hope answered her question.</p><p>“I’m glad. Maybe we should sleep together more often then,” the brunette then joked, making Hope roll her eyes. She could practically see in her mind the huge grin that Josie had plastered on her face.</p><p>“I should totally hit you right now for being a pervert, you know that?” Hope told her and got off the bed.</p><p>“As if you’re not one yourself, Miss Mikaelson…” Josie then said, a smirk replacing that grin which was previously on her face. Hope had told her last night about the many guys she slept with after the accident a year ago and the many dirty things she had done with them.</p><p>“Oh shut up…” Hope replied playfully after she heard what the brunette said and then threw a cushion at her face. Before it hit her, Josie caught the little soft thing that was thrown at her and began laughing. She was actually having genuine fun with Hope, something which she didn’t believe could possibly happen.</p><p>A few seconds later, the auburn-haired girl walked out of the guestroom and made her way towards her own, leaving the other girl alone on the bed. While hugging the small cushion tightly, Josie stared at the ceiling, a huge smile still on her face as she thought of how wonderful this new Hope was and how she couldn’t wait to spend more time with her.</p><p>As she was just lying there, Josie grabbed her phone since she wanted to see what time it was. When she unlocked it though, shock and fear struck her face because she was greeted with twenty missed calls from her sister Lizzie, ten from Kym and over thirty text messages saying stuff like “Where the hell are you?” and “Josie, are you okay? Call me when you read this…”</p><p>“No, no, no… Damn it!” the brunette cursed under her breath and then quickly got off the bed. As fast as she possibly could, she then put her clothes from last night on and dialed Lizzie’s number. Pressing the phone firm against her ear, Josie afterwards walked out of the guestroom and into Hope’s living room. While waiting for Lizzie to pick up, she was moving back and forth nervously inside the room because she knew that Lizzie would definitely yell at her over the phone for not calling or texting.</p><p>“Josie? Are you alright?” the brunette heard her twin ask over the phone a few seconds later, her voice filled with panic.</p><p>“Yes, I’m fine. Don’t worry, Liz…” Josie told the blonde and then a long sigh escaped her mouth. “I’m sorry for-“</p><p>“Why the hell didn’t you call or text me, you idiot?!” Lizzie said angrily over the phone, her voice much louder than usual, and didn’t let Josie finish what she was saying. “Kym and I have been worried sick about you. Where the hell have you been?”</p><p>“Well, I… There was-“ Josie began speaking, but unfortunately she was interrupted by her sister yet again.</p><p>“I even had Rafael look around the city for you. My poor cutie pie spent hours searching with his car…” Lizzie continued talking and didn’t let the brunette say anything.</p><p>Another sigh then escaped Josie’s mouth because she knew that explaining herself while Lizzie was like that was an impossible task to do, so she gave up and just decided to let the girl finish scolding her.</p><p>While the blonde was yelling through the phone, Hope had walked into the room. She was wearing a gorgeous long-sleeved pink coat that she designed herself recently, jeans from her new collection and really expensive high-heeled shoes. Her beautiful hair was left hanging loose on each of her shoulders which made her look absolutely stunning. Josie felt her breathing stop the moment her eyes landed on the beautiful woman standing before her with that lovely smile of hers. The brunette was captivated by her, mesmerized. In Josie’s eyes, the girl looked like an actual princess. She definitely believed that Hope was hands down the most gorgeous person she had ever seen in her entire life. Josie had spaced out so much that she didn’t even hear that Lizzie had finished scolding her and was asking if she was there.</p><p>“Josie, are you there? Hello?” the blonde said from the other line with a confused tone in her voice. “Josette Saltzman, where the hell are you?” Lizzie yelled out really loudly, making Josie finally snap out of the trance she was in.</p><p>“Sorry about that, Liz...” the brunette apologized to her sister. “Listen, I’ll explain everything when I get home, okay?”</p><p>“Josie, wait… When are you getting ho-“ Lizzie tried saying, but before she could finish her sentence, Josie had already hung up.</p><p>“Is everything alright?” Hope asked with a worried expression on her face, moving closer to the girl at the same time.</p><p>“Yeah, it’s just… I forgot to call Lizzie and tell her that I’m here. She was worried about me,” Josie explained the situation to her. “I’d better go. She’ll probably kill me if I’m not home soon.”</p><p>“Oh… I see,” the other girl said, her voice a bit sad because she didn’t want Josie to leave. She was actually planning on suggesting that they go out and have lunch or something, so she could repay her for helping her out. That’s why she was all dressed up and ready to go out. <em>Is it weird that I want her to stay with me?</em> Hope wondered as she looked at something other than the brunette in front of her. <em>Why do I suddenly feel so attached to her?</em></p><p>When Hope averted her eyes back to Josie, she caught her smiling, which immediately lightened up the atmosphere in the room. Hope couldn’t help but return that smile. It was so addictive, like a lethal drug that bends you to its will.</p><p>“You look very beautiful by the way,” Josie told the other girl and then went to the corridor to pick up her jacket from the hanger.</p><p>“Don’t I always…” Hope replied and did a hair flip, like any princess would. She had always had real confidence in her own beauty. Ever since she was little she had tried her best to look as dazzling and magnificent as possible, so everyone would admire her looks. Since she was so interested in fashion, she devoted her life to it. Despite everything she went through, she never let it interfere with her life as a designer. It was way too important to her.</p><p>“Wow, what confidence you have,” Josie said and chuckled lightly as she put her jacket on.</p><p>“A beautiful woman must always be confident about her looks,” the other girl stated as she watched Josie zip her jacket up.</p><p>“Yeah…” the brunette muttered under her breath as she kneeled down on the ground in order to put her boots on.</p><p>“You don’t agree with me?” Hope asked curiously and raised an eyebrow because she knew that she wasn’t saying anything wrong.</p><p>“No, I do agree. It’s just that I don’t really understand how that feels. I’ve never been confident about my outer appearance,” Josie explained to the girl and then stood up from the floor a few seconds later, making Hope feel guilty about bringing this topic up.</p><p>“Oh…” she just said while looking at the brunette. “Well, I think that you should start being more confident because you’re really pretty, Josie.”</p><p>Josie averted her eyes to the floor, her cheeks red because of Hope’s compliment. <em>She thinks I’m pretty?</em></p><p>“Thanks,” the brunette just said and smiled. No one had ever told her that she’s pretty before, so all of this was very new to her. Honestly, she felt like the characters in her books. It was nice for a change, feeling happy because of something that someone else had said. Josie wished she could experience more of this sort of thing. “Well, I’d better go…” she then told Hope and grabbed the handle of the door. Before she could open it though, the other girl began speaking and stopped her.</p><p>“Listen, I was wondering…” Hope started saying nervously. “What if we go and get something to eat? I can call Lizzie and tell her that you’re with me.”</p><p>That suggestion sounded wonderful in Josie’s ears but unfortunately, she knew that she couldn’t afford going somewhere to eat. She was indeed earning more money than usual, but she didn’t want to spend it all so quickly. She had just started getting back on her feet and there was no way in hell that she’d ruin that.</p><p>“That sounds great but-“ Josie began speaking but before she could finish, Hope had already accepted her answer to her suggestion as a yes, so she interrupted her by saying, “Wonderful, I know this really great place! You’ll love it. It’s slightly more expensive, but don’t worry. I know you don’t earn a lot of money, so everything will be on me. I want to repay you for helping me yesterday.”</p><p>Hope then linked arms with the other girl and unlocked her apartment’s door. Before they could step outside, though, Josie pulled her, making her stop in her tracks and turn around in surprise.</p><p>“I appreciate it, really, but I have to go home now. I’m sorry…” the tall brunette apologized. “And you don’t have to repay me for helping you. Any normal human being would’ve done that.”</p><p>It wasn’t as if Josie didn’t want to go out with Hope. It’s just that, she didn’t like it when someone else would spend money for her. It made her feel like a loser who couldn’t afford paying for her own meal. She was more of a giver than a taker, despite taking Lizzie’s money all those years. But she didn’t really have a choice and she couldn’t argue with her sister.</p><p>Hope could see that Josie didn’t really want to do this, so she decided to drop the subject.</p><p>“Okay, I won’t pressure you,” she told the brunette and unlinked their arms. “Will you come see me later? I’m afraid of being alone here. Aunt Freya probably won’t be back for a couple of days.”</p><p>“I’ll be back soon, I promise…” Josie told her and stepped out of the apartment. But suddenly, she had another idea. “Or wait… Why don’t you come with me? That way you won’t be alone and I won’t have to worry if you’re okay or not.”</p><p>“Alright! Let’s go!” Hope said enthusiastically because she was going to spend more time with Josie.</p><p>You know how sometimes you’re suddenly struck by the desire to do something. Like, you want to do it so much, that you feel like you have to do it at all cost and nothing can stand in your way. That’s exactly how Hope felt at the moment. She had this unbelievable desire to spend time with Josie, to get to know her more, to be friends with her. She wanted this so much, that nothing else seemed as important…</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Half an hour later, the two girls walked inside Josie and Lizzie’s shared apartment, Hope holding the brunette’s hand because she was shaking in her boots due to the other girl’s fear of her sister yelling at her.</p><p>“It’s going to be okay, don’t worry…” Hope reassured Josie as they made their way to the living room.</p><p>When they walked in, both of them were greeted by the sight of Lizzie making out with her boyfriend on the couch. Josie rolled her eyes immediately at the sight of the couple sucking each other’s faces. <em>So much for being worried about me…</em></p><p>Usually, Lizzie didn’t notice anything or anyone whenever she and her boyfriend got it on on the couch, but this time, the blonde heard two pairs of footsteps, which made her eyes immediately shoot open in surprise. She then quickly pushed Rafael’s face away from her own and looked at the two girls. <em>Why are they together? I thought they hated each other. What’s going on here?</em></p><p>“What the hell? You two are together here? How come?” Lizzie asked with a shocked tone in her voice. She was originally going to yell at Josie when she comes back, but since this was too surprising for her, she didn’t. It actually made her kind of curious. While waiting for one of them to explain, she felt like she was watching one of her soap operas or something.</p><p>“Well, well… Look who finally decided to show up. Do you know that I spent hours looking for you last night, Josie?” Rafael suddenly began speaking. “My poor baby ran out of gas while I was driving around the city…”</p><p>“Shut up, cutie pie! I want to know why they’re together,” Lizzie told her boyfriend and put her hand over his mouth without taking her eyes off of the two girls. The suspense was killing her and she felt like she would go crazy if one of them didn’t say something soon.</p><p>“Hope’s clothing store was robbed last night…” Josie said a few seconds later after taking a deep breath. She then began explaining about how she helped her out, how she took her back to her apartment and spent the night there so she wouldn’t be alone. Josie also apologized for not calling or texting at all.</p><p>Lizzie was listening to her sister speak and nodding her head as if she was watching a very interesting movie that kept her on the edge of her seat. Now she understood why her twin forgot to call. She would’ve too if she was in her position.</p><p>“Wow… I see. I’m really sorry that you had to go through all that last night, Hope. How’s the investigation going anyway? What did the police say? Do they know who’s responsible for the robbery?” Lizzie said after Josie stopped speaking, then got up from the couch and gave Hope a warm hug in order to make her feel better.</p><p>“The police said they would call us if they find out anything,” Hope told her and the blonde just hummed.</p><p>After pulling away from her friend, Lizzie turned her attention to her sister and said, “You’re off the hook this time, Jo, but next time, try not to forget, okay?”</p><p>“Alright, I promise,” Josie then said and gave Lizzie a hug. She was glad that she had such a caring sister, even though sometimes the girl went a bit overboard because she was way too overprotective of her.</p><p>After they pulled away, Lizzie remembered that there was one more thing she had to tell Josie.</p><p>“Oh and call Kym, will you? She told me to tell you to call her as soon as you come home, so she would stop worrying,” she said and Josie nodded.</p><p>“I will call her right away.”</p><p>After that, Josie went to her room, so she could talk to Kym, leaving Hope alone with Lizzie and Rafael. The auburn-haired girl looked at the brunette as she left and couldn’t help but begin to wonder about what kind of relationship she has with Kym. In her eyes, they seemed pretty close. In order to satisfy her curiosity, Hope decided to ask Lizzie about that.</p><p>“Josie and Kym seem pretty close. How long have they known each other?” she asked Lizzie.</p><p>“Yes, they are. They’re like sisters, but not blood related, obviously…,” Lizzie answered the girl’s question while still laughing. “They’ve known each other a long time and are just really close friends, both unbelievable dorks.”</p><p><a id="_GoBack" name="_GoBack"></a>“I see…” Hope just said and nodded her head. The auburn-haired girl didn’t know why but she was bothered by that fact. She felt jealous of the relationship Kym had with Josie, which was weird and new to her. Maybe it was because she didn’t really like Kym all that much. She didn’t know. <em>Pull yourself together, you idiot. What is wrong with you?</em> Hope thought and sighed in frustration. Thankfully, Lizzie and Rafael didn’t notice because they went back to sucking each other’s faces.</p><p>Everything was so confusing for Hope, these new sudden feelings she had developed. But even so, despite everything, she felt like the direction she was going in was the correct one. Hope felt as if she was finally putting her life back together and it was all because of one person – Josie Saltzman.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hosie are at the friend stage now guys! &lt;3 Yayyy! :D </p><p>Thank you all for reading, commenting and leaving kudos! You guys are awesome! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Okay so... I have to warn you guys.</p><p>This chapter is highly inappropriate and disturbing. I'm changing the rating of the story to Explicit because there's a rape scene in it. You can skip it if you feel like it might be triggering for you.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">Only a couple of days have passed since the incident at the store but Hope feels as if her life is starting to change for the better. She had made a lot of progress in such a short amount of time, which was remarkable. Things seemed to be going great for her and the girl couldn't feel happier. This was probably the happiest she had felt in a long long time. Even her aunt Freya was surprised to see her so different when she got back from visiting her friend. Hope had been so nice to Josie and also, she was drinking less alcohol. Well, mostly because her tall brunette friend was keeping an eye on her. She was also taking a little break from work, but her assistant Alyssa and the other staff members were handling things there, so it wasn’t really a big deal. But there was still one problem with Hope. She was scared, very very frightened whenever a guy would approach her. That's why she hadn't been to a bar or met up with anyone from the opposite gender since the accident. Landon tried contacting her, but the girl just kept ignoring him. That wasn't the only reason she was avoiding him, though. Hope actually didn't like the guy very much. He was extremely cocky and arrogant which annoyed her a lot.</p><p class="western">On the other hand, she had been spending far more time with Josie. Hope found the girl funny and sweet, so she definitely enjoyed it whenever they were together.</p><p class="western">"I have classes in an hour, so I'll see you tonight," Freya told her niece and grabbed her bag where she kept all her important lecture notes. Despite everything she and Hope went through, Freya had never been behind in her work. In fact, she began doing even better after the accident because that was another way for her of coping with her brother and sister-in-law’s deaths. Teaching a class was something that made her stop thinking about the tragic accident. Whenever she would open a textbook and start reading or when she explained the material to her students, everything else would stop existing. It was only her and the knowledge.</p><p class="western">"Okay, aunt Freya. Good luck at the university," Hope replied and smiled sweetly to the older woman. “Show those students who’s the boss!”</p><p class="western">A cute chuckle escaped the girl’s mouth as she then knelt down on the ground in order to put her shoes on. Taking a few glances at Hope who was in the living room, Freya kept thinking about how wonderful it was that Hope was slowly going back to being the loving niece she once was. She didn’t know the actual reason for the change in the girl, but she had a good feeling that it had something to do with a certain tall brunette. Hope had told her aunt about the robbery at the clothing store and how Josie, the girl from that café who accidentally poured her coffee all over Freya, was brave enough to help her out at the time. <em>I guess the feeling I got when I met that girl was right…</em> Freya thought and smiled to herself as she stood up from the floor because she had finished putting her shoes on. Afterwards she bid farewell to her niece and got out of the apartment.</p><p class="western">A few minutes after Freya left for the university, Hope heard her phone vibrating on the table. She glanced at its screen and felt excited at the thought of Josie calling her. Quickly, Hope then picked up the phone, but unfortunately, she noticed that it wasn’t Josie’s name as the Caller ID, but actually a certain guy that she was trying so hard to avoid.</p><p class="western">“Why don’t you just give up?” Hope said angrily as soon as she answered the call. “Why can’t you get the picture that I don’t want you in my life? I’ve been trying to avoid you for the past couple of days but now I’m really pissed off. Stop calling me, douche bag.”</p><p class="western">“Oh come on, baby. Don’t play hard to get. I know you want me…” Landon replied from the other line with that same cocky and annoying voice of his.</p><p class="western">“No, I don’t. Leave me alone, idiot!” Hope then told him with a really pissed off tone in her voice and hung up.</p><p class="western">A few seconds later, her phone began vibrating again, but Hope knew that it was probably Landon so she didn’t pick up at all. She just grabbed her phone and threw it across the room, making it fall on top of one of the armchairs inside it.</p><p class="western">“Okay, calm down, Hope. Calm down… Take deep breaths. Everything’s going to be alright!” Hope talked out loud, reassuring herself.</p><p class="western">Afterwards, she just began doing something entertaining like watching TV or lying on the couch while listening to some music, anything to get her mind off things. While doing that, she kept thinking of Josie. She found it a bit weird that ever since they became close, images of the girl would just pop into her head from time to time. The last time something like that happened to Hope was when she met her deceased boyfriend Roman all those years ago and she developed a crush on him. But she couldn’t have those kind of feelings for Josie, could she? Hope had never looked at a girl in that way, no matter how twisted and perverted her mind was. She had only been with guys. Also, the thought of being romantically involved with a woman didn’t appeal to her all that much. She was used to feeling strong muscular male bodies, but since the robbery, she didn’t know if she could ever be with a man again. Maybe someday, when she was ready, but it would never be the way it used to be.</p><p class="western">Suddenly, as Hope was deep in thought, someone rang the apartment’s doorbell, snapping the girl out of her daze. <em>Who could be looking for me at this time? Josie said she’d be at work…</em></p><p class="western">Confused, Hope stood up from the couch and made her way to the door. <em>It could be the lady that checks the water. She came by last month at this time, I think…</em> The auburn-haired girl didn’t even bother to look through the small hole in the door to see who it was and just opened the door without giving it a second thought. At that moment, she made a mistake that she’d regret for the rest of her life. As soon as she opened the door, she was greeted by a certain guy’s cocky smirk.</p><p class="western">“Hey gorgeous! Missed me?” Landon said with his annoying voice and pushed the door, so Hope wouldn’t be able to close it.</p><p class="western">“What the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you to leave me the hell alone!” Hope yelled out loud enough with a shaky voice in hopes that the neighbors would hear her. Unfortunately though, they weren’t home, so there was no one to help the poor girl.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">*** This is where the rape scene starts. Please skip it if you feel you might get triggered. ***</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Being the intrusive guy that he was, Landon then invited himself inside Hope’s apartment. His scary large figure made the auburn-haired girl a bit intimidated and she felt her whole body start shaking in fear that he might do something bad to her. Closing the door, Landon put his hands on each of Hope’s shoulders and pushed her against the wall, then brought his face uncomfortably close to the girl’s and whispered, “You can’t avoid me now.”</p><p class="western">The man then started forcefully kissing Hope while at the same time holding her really tightly so she wouldn’t escape. She had never seen him in this kind of light. Usually, he was cocky and arrogant, but he still seemed like a nice guy. Oh how wrong she was for thinking that. Landon was a monster in disguise…</p><p class="western">The auburn-haired girl tried pushing him off, hitting him with her hands and kicking him, but he had positioned himself in a way that she couldn’t do anything. He was pressing his body too hard against hers and squeezing her shoulders as he was kissing her.</p><p class="western">“Don’t! Please, let me go…” Hope said in between the kiss as she squirmed in fear under the man’s large figure.</p><p class="western">“I know you like it, baby. Why are you protesting? You had no problem when I was fucking you last week…” Landon told her and unzipped the girl’s jeans, then pulled them down along with her underwear. With so much force, he then pushed her even more against the wall as he rubbed his body against hers. Hope felt paralyzed with fear. She was just a pathetic helpless victim and wasn’t able to move at all, so Landon could do whatever he pleased with her.</p><p class="western">The man started sucking and biting on her neck, leaving red marks all over it, while at the same time, he ripped her shirt and bra off, so he could play with her breasts.</p><p class="western">“Stop! No, please!” Hope screamed in protest, but all her pleas were useless because he had no intention of stopping at all.</p><p class="western">“God, your tits are amazing. I just love squeezing them hard…” Landon told her and roared like an animal while aggressively massaging the girl’s boobs.</p><p class="western">Hope felt tears streaming down her face as the man then moved his mouth lower down her body and began sucking and biting on one of her nipples. Usually, she would enjoy having rough sex with someone, but only if she was in on it and not being forced to. She had no desire to do anything with Landon or any other guy for that matter at that moment. She was left with no choice though, so she just stood there helplessly while he was sexually assaulting her.</p><p class="western">After a minute or so, Landon forced Hope down on her knees and pulled down his pants, revealing his big erected dick. The man then began thrusting it into her mouth while holding her head by her hair. Hope felt like she would choke and die if he didn’t stop soon. She tried pushing him away by putting her hands on his thighs and applying force, but he was too strong.</p><p class="western">“Yeah, suck that dick. Oh yeah, baby. Ahhh…” Landon moaned because the feeling of his member inside the girl’s mouth was amazing. A few seconds later he took it out and stroked it a few times as Hope coughed. She tried escaping once again by pulling herself away, which made the man angry, so he said furiously, “Stop fucking trying to escape from me, bitch! You know what I did to the last girl who tried that? I strangled her to death! So stop squirming and just do as I say!” Afterwards he pushed her to lie down on the floor. In the process, Hope hit her shoulder against the drawer where she and Freya keep their shoes, making her yell out in pain. Landon smirked like a lunatic and then began speaking again, “Yeah, scream for me, baby. Scream just like the last girl I raped.”</p><p class="western">Holding her shoulder with one of her hands, Hope turned around and began crawling towards the living room. Amused by the girl’s action, Landon slowly followed her and when they were inside it, he grabbed her tightly and turned her around forcefully.</p><p class="western">“You’re a lunatic. What the hell is wrong with you?” Hope yelled out as the man held her wrists together with one hand and pinned them above her head against the floor. He then moved above Hope and placed his free fingers on top of the girl’s private area, massaging it forcefully at the same time.</p><p class="western">“You shouldn’t have avoided me, Hope. That’s what my last girlfriend did. I hate it when someone avoids me or tells me to leave them alone,” Landon told her, making Hope’s red bloodshot eyes widen in surprise. She couldn’t believe that this guy turned out to be a psycho. <em>God, why do these things keep happening to me? It’s like the universe doesn’t want me to be happy.</em></p><p class="western">“I’m sorry. Please, stop…” Hope apologized and pleaded for the man to stop assaulting her, but her pleas were useless yet again.</p><p class="western">“Oh no, you deserve to be punished, my dear. That’s what you get for being a bad girl!” Landon told her and looked Hope straight in the eyes. At that moment she could see it in his face that he was really mentally unstable.</p><p class="western">A few minutes later, the auburn-haired girl felt Landon’s member deep inside her as he began thrusting in and out of her wet core with so much force, that she felt like he would rip her apart if he continued any longer.</p><p class="western">“Aghhh…” Hope screamed in pain as the man continued fucking her.</p><p class="western">A few seconds later, his hand went to the girl’s neck as he began chocking her.</p><p class="western">“Tell me that you won’t avoid me again, Hope!” Landon said angrily as he started thrusting harder and deeper inside the girl. “Fucking tell me now!”</p><p class="western">“I-I won’t! I won’t avoid you again! Aghhhhh…” Hope screamed loudly as tears continued falling from her eyes.</p><p class="western">“Hope? Are you in there?” Suddenly the girl heard a familiar voice coming from outside her apartment and banging on the door.</p><p class="western">Landon ignored it because he didn’t really give a damn if some other female was here. He thought he’d just rape her as well, so he continued thrusting into Hope.</p><p class="western">“Help me!” Hope yelled out these two words as loud as she could so Josie could hear her and come save her just like she did last time.</p><p class="western">“She won’t be able to help you, bitch. I’ll rape her too!” Landon told Hope and laughed like a lunatic.</p><p class="western">Suddenly though, he felt something hit him hard on the head, making his vision go black as he fell unconscious on the ground.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">*** End of rape scene ***</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Josie had come in and had seen what was happening, so she reacted quickly and grabbed a frying pan from the kitchen, then hit the man with it as hard as she possible could.</p><p class="western">“You weren’t answering your phone, so I got worried that something had happened to you. Thank god, I came here…” the tall brunette told the terrified girl as she took her jacket off and covered her with it. “I’m calling the police.”</p><p class="western">After Josie called the authorities and explained the situation, they told her that they would be there as fast as they could.</p><p class="western">“Don’t worry. The police are one their way,” the brunette reassured Hope as she hugged her and stroked her hair gently. The terrified girl buried her face in the crook of Josie’s neck and continued crying her eyes out while squeezing the fabric of Josie’s blouse with her aching hands. “Everything is going to be okay.”</p><p class="western">A minute or so later, the police arrived and arrested the still unconscious man, who woke up after one of the officers slapped him on the face. Then they reassured the two girls that he would be dealt with, so they won’t have to worry about him anymore.</p><p class="western">An hour later, Hope was sitting on the couch in Josie’s arms, the only place where she felt safe.</p><p class="western">“This is the second time you saved me. You’re like my guardian angel…” the girl told her savior and closed her eyes as she rested her head on Josie’s shoulders. “If it wasn’t for you, he probably would’ve killed me. Thank you…”</p><p class="western">“Shh, it’s over now. Everything’s going to be alright,” the brunette reassured her for probably the thousandth time that day and tightened her embrace around the other girl’s body.</p><p class="western">A few minutes later, Hope fell asleep on the brunette’s shoulder. Josie felt her breathing become steady and she just continued watching the beautiful girl as she slept. Her eyes then darted on Hope’s wrists which were purple because the man had squeezed them too hard. She couldn’t believe that something like this had happened and she hated herself for not arriving earlier. <em>How can I be so stupid?</em> <em>Damn it!</em> Josie though and cursed in her mind. Not coming sooner that day was something that she’d regret for the rest of her life…</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Poor Hope... the universe just doesn't want her to be happy. Thank god Josie was there to save her yet again! </p><p>Thank you all for reading, commenting and leaving kudos! You guys are absolutely amazing! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I decided to post a 2nd chapter today. Had some time on my hands so I figured why not.  :D</p>
<p>Also, I want to apologize if the rape scene in the previous chapter was triggering for some of you. I know how horrible it is but it was important for the storyline to move forward. I want to show how traumatic events can influence and impact you as a person. The whole idea of this story is overcoming tragedy, dealing with grief and coming out strong in the end thanks to support from your loved ones and because you yourself find strength within yourself. </p>
<p>Life is not only sunshine and rainbows. I wanted to show how dangerous it could be to hook up with random people and how you can't trust someone you barely know because they could turn out to be something close to a monster. </p>
<p>Anyway, there won't be scenes as bad as that one till the end of the story. There will only be mild angst from here on, I guess.  </p>
<p>The story does have a happy ending. </p>
<p>Enjoy reading! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The door to the apartment creaked as Hope’s </span>
  <span>aunt</span>
  <span> Freya slowly opened it. There was a bright smile plastered on the girl’s face as she walked inside because she had had a good day at the university. There was a really important exam which </span>
  <span>her students probably</span>
  <span> aced and also, the </span>
  <span>woman she</span>
  <span> liked since a long time ago finally asked her out. Freya couldn’t wait to tell her </span>
  <span>niece</span>
  <span> all the good things which happened to her that day.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Hope</span><span>, I’m home!” the </span><span>woman</span><span> yelled out cheerfully as she took her shoes off and put her coat on the hanger. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>When Hope didn’t answer, Freya thought that her </span>
  <span>niece</span>
  <span> was probably not at home, so she just sighed and decided to go to the kitchen in order to get something to eat. </span>
  <span>
    <em>I’ll tell her later then…</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the </span>
  <span>older woman</span>
  <span> stepped foot inside one of her favourite places in the whole world, the room where she had spent so many hours making all kinds of delicious dishes, she yelped in surprise when she noticed a figure bent down and looking inside the kitchen stove. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Holy shit, you scared me…” Josie suddenly yelled out and jumped since the </span><span>woman</span><span> startled her. The </span><span>brunette</span><span> had her hand placed on the left side of her chest and she felt her heart rate increase while her breathing become faster. For a moment there she thought Landon had escaped the police and had come to finish the job. </span></p>
<p>“<span>Me? You were the one who scared me. What the hell are you doing in my kitchen?” Freya said in disbelief. “Did Amber make you sneak in here to steal my secret pancake recipe? She’s wanted to get her hands on it for years. I wouldn’t be surprised if she were to do something like this.”</span></p>
<p>“<span>No, no… I’m Josie, Hope’s friend,” Josie told her while waving her hands in front of her body as if to defend herself. Freya raised an eyebrow and took a good look at the </span><span>tall</span> <span>brunette</span><span>, wondering where she had heard that name from. Josie noticed that the </span><span>older woman</span><span> was having trouble remembering, so she told her, “I also kind of spilled coffee all over you once.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Freya’s eyes widened as realization finally hit her. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Oh my god, it’s her. The one who saved my </em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>niece</em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>! </em>
  </span>
  <span>Suddenly, she then threw herself at Josie and embraced her tightly. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Thank you!” she told the </span><span>brunette</span><span> as tears began forming in her eyes. “Thank you for saving my </span><span>niece</span><span>!”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Josie took the whole thing as if it was the most normal thing in the world for someone she didn’t know to hug her. For some reason she felt comfortable when Freya did it, as if she wasn’t Hope’s </span>
  <span>aunt</span>
  <span>, but her own. Closing her eyes, she wrapped her arms around the </span>
  <span>woman</span>
  <span>’s body as well and then said, “It was nothing. I did what any normal person would do.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A few seconds later, Freya pulled away and looked Josie in the eyes. She thanked her once again and the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> thought that she had never heard anyone else be as sincere in her whole entire life as Freya was at that moment. </span>
  <span>
    <em>You must really love your </em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>niece</em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em> a lot…</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The wonderful smell of whatever Josie was cooking then suddenly struck Freya right in the nose and made her mouth water. </span>
  <span>
    <em>God, this smells amazing… </em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>What are you making by the way?” the </span><span>older</span> <span>woman</span><span> asked with a curious tone in her voice. “It smells like roasted chicken. Is that correct?”</span></p>
<p>“<span>Yes, you’re right. I wanted to cook something delicious for Hope,” Josie told Freya and checked how long it would be until the chicken was ready. “She’s been through a lot today. I know this isn’t going to make things better, but she needs to eat something when she wakes up later.” </span></p>
<p>“<span>What happened? Is my </span><span>niece</span><span> okay?” Freya asked, panic and worry evident in her voice, as her eyes widened.</span></p>
<p>“<span>Sit down and I’ll explain everything,” the </span><span>brunette</span><span> said to the other girl and motioned for her to sit on one of the chairs in the kitchen. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>As soon as Freya sat down, Josie took a deep breath and then with a sad expression and tone in her voice said, “Your </span>
  <span>niece</span>
  <span> was raped today.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At that moment, the </span>
  <span>older woman</span>
  <span> felt as if her whole world came crashing down. Another bad thing happened, as if the death of her </span>
  <span>brother and sister-in-law</span>
  <span> and Hope’s boyfriend wasn’t enough. What did she and her </span>
  <span>niece</span>
  <span> do? Why was the universe punishing them? Suddenly, Freya burst into tears, crying her eyes out as if she had never done it before. Josie slowly embraced her and began stroking her back in an attempt to comfort her. She understood how hard it was for Freya because it was the same for her. She was hurting so much because of what happened to Hope and she wished she could kill Landon with her bare hands for doing those horrible and disgusting things to her. She had never hated anyone so much in her whole life and wished with all her heart that he would die there in prison and afterwards burn in the pit of Hell for all eternity. In her opinion, he deserved the worst.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After Josie and Freya pulled away from their embrace, the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> finished telling the </span>
  <span>older woman</span>
  <span> everything that happened, leaving her completely and utterly speechless and mortified. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hope stirred in her sleep as images of the man that raped her entered her mind. She felt her whole body ache under his rough touch. Her heart rate increased and all she wanted was to run away like a little cowering rabbit. She tried crawling away from the man in her dream, but he kept pulling her towards himself. Hope saw the horrible expression on his face. It was one of a cold-blooded killer or an animal ready to devour his pray. Hope screamed for him to let her go, to not hurt or kill her, but he kept pushing. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Hope? Hope, wake up!” the </span><span>auburn-haired girl</span><span> suddenly heard a familiar voice say and she immediately opened her eyes. Hope’s body was drenched in sweat and her heart was beating faster than usual. Josie’s face and Freya’s came into view, making the girl relax slightly. Landon wasn’t there. It was just a dream, so she had nothing to worry about. </span></p>
<p>“<span>Hope</span><span>, it’s okay. You’re safe…” Freya reassured her </span><span>niece</span><span> and gently placed a hand on one of her shoulders, rubbing it afterwards. Unfortunately, she picked the one which Hope hurt while she was trying to escape from Landon, so the girl hissed when her </span><span>aunt’s</span><span> hand made contact with it. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>That made Freya pull it away immediately and apologize. “Oh, I’m so sorry…”</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>It’s okay. You didn’t know…” Hope told her while her </span><span>aunt</span><span> was looking at her with a worried expression on her face.</span></p>
<p>“<span>Are you hungry? I made some roasted chicken,” Josie then said, but Hope just shook her head, declining the offer. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>A sigh escaped the </span>
  <span>tall</span>
  <span> girl’s mouth and she then began speaking again, “Okay, but promise me that you’ll have some later.”</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>I promise,” Hope replied and smiled at her friend. She was glad that the </span><span>brunette</span><span> came into her life and couldn’t believe that she once disliked her. Oh how stupid she felt for doing that. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>Josie stared at the beautiful girl and admired how strong she was. </span>
  <span>
    <em>After everything she’s been through, she can still smile like that. Amazing…</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A few hours later, at probably eleven o’clock PM, Freya had went to sleep already, while Josie was in Hope’s room and both of them were lying down on the bed. The </span>
  <span>auburn-haired girl</span>
  <span> had asked her friend to stay the night because she was scared and didn’t want to be alone. It wasn’t like she didn’t feel safe with Freya home, but it wasn’t the same. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>She’s not you…” Hope told Josie when she asked, so the </span><span>brunette</span><span> just agreed. She would do anything she could to help her. Whatever Hope wanted, she was willing to do…</span></p>
<p>“<span>Listen, I want you to know that I’m here for you, okay?” Josie told the girl softly as she turned her head to look at her. “You can count on me.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Hope couldn’t help but smile as soon as she heard her </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> friend’s words. She thought that Josie’s the sweetest person she had ever met. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Thank you…” Hope replied and brought her body closer to the </span><span>taller</span><span> girl’s, then wrapped her arms around her body, embracing her with everything she had. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me despite the fact that I was a complete bitch to you before.”</span></p>
<p>“<span>Just forget about that time. We were both acting really stupid,” Josie said as she placed one arm around the other girl’s waist. “Let’s not mention it again, okay?”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Hope felt her heart rate increase as she heard the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> speak. Her voice was so comforting and she wanted to listen to it forever. It was quiet but louder than a whisper and gave off that sensual feel. If someone didn’t know that the two were just friends, they would think that they were lovers or something judging by their position and the way Josie spoke.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Alright, </span><span>Jo</span><span>… It’s all in the past,” Hope replied after a few seconds and closed her eyes, then buried her head in the </span><span>brunette’s</span><span> neck, letting herself drown in that sweet scent it was covered in. It was the perfect combination of lavender, vanilla and something else the girl couldn’t really guess. Honestly, Hope felt intoxicated by it. It was addicting, just like Josie was. Whenever she would laugh or smile, the girl couldn’t help but do it as well. To Hope, the </span><span>brunette</span><span> was like a sweet drug that she’d want to become addicted to anytime. </span></p>
<p>“<span>By the way, can I ask you something?” Josie suddenly said after a while, making Hope pull her body away from hers and look at the girl in the eyes.</span></p>
<p>“<span>Sure. What is it?” she asked curiously and waited for the </span><span>brunette</span><span> to give her a reply. Hope didn’t know why, but she felt her heartbeat increase as soon as Josie said she wanted to ask her something. It was as if she was expecting some romantic confession or the other girl asking her if she could kiss her. </span></p>
<p>“<span>This question is a bit uncomfortable. I’ve been wondering about it for a few days now,” Josie began saying with a serious tone in her voice, “I know that you’ve been with many guys and I was wondering if you have ever been tested for any STDs?”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>The question the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> asked kind of caught Hope off guard because it was the last thing she expected Josie to ask her. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Honestly, I haven’t. I’ve thought about it, but I would always find some excuse not to go,” Hope answered the other girl’s question truthfully because she didn’t want to lie to her. She didn’t want them to have any secrets between each other. “Either I’d have too much work or I’d get drunk so bad that I’d forget everything.”</span></p>
<p>“<span>I see…” Josie said as her expression quickly changed into a worried one. “I think it’s best if we go tomorrow. After everything Landon did to you, I want to make sure that everything is alright.”</span></p>
<p>“<span>You’re right. I’ll call a doctor in the morning and schedule an appointment,” Hope told the other girl and then let out a tired yawn. She was starting to get really sleepy again.</span></p>
<p>“<span>Let’s go to bed,” Josie said after she noticed Hope’s state, then stretched her arm out to the left and turned off the lamp which was on top of the nightstand.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>After that, the two girls told each other “Good night!” and both quickly went off to dreamland. They both had a really horrible day and just wished they could put everything behind them. But the two knew that that was going to be hard, especially for Hope. You don’t just get over getting raped. It takes a really long time to recover from something like that. Before going to sleep, Josie promised herself that she’d do anything she can to help Hope get through this faster so they could both go back to their normal daily lives.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>[On the next day]</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hope felt her legs start shaking as she waited impatiently on the couch in front of the doctor’s office. She and Josie had been there for a few hours already, just waiting for the man in the white robe to come out and tell them the results of the tests they ran. Hope felt as if she would go crazy if the doctor didn’t come out soon. A frustrated sigh escaped her mouth as she looked at the white door with the specialist’s schedule hung in the middle of it. </span>
  <span>
    <em>How long does it take for some results to be ready?! I can’t wait any longer…</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Relax okay…” Hope suddenly heard Josie say and then felt a warm hand being placed over her own. The girl was sitting next to her for the past couple of hours as well, but unlike her, she didn’t appear nervous or anything. She just seemed calm. As soon as Josie put her hand over Hope’s, because she noticed that her nerves were getting to her, the girl instantly calmed down. The </span><span>brunette</span><span> always had that effect on her. “He’ll come out soon. Trust me.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Another sigh escaped Hope’s mouth and she continued waiting alongside Josie. After a couple of minutes, the doctor finally came out because the results were ready. Hope looked at the man, but his expression was unreadable. She wondered what he would tell her. Does she have any sexual-transmitted diseases? Is she dying? How bad of a state is she in? She felt alright though and had never noticed any signs of STDs or anything else for all those years, despite having sex with so many guys and drinking alcohol like a complete pig every single day. But could she have missed the signs? Hope didn’t know and her mind was racing at that moment because of all the anxiousness she was feeling. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Josie squeezed the girl’s hand gently in order to help her relax again as they both waited for the doctor to speak.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Your results are ready,” the white-haired old man said to both of them and flipped a few pages on his clipboard.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>At that moment, the two girls knew that there was a huge possibility that the results could be bad, but they kept thinking optimistically, assuring themselves that everything would be okay, that Hope would be completely healthy. It all came down to what fate had in store for the girl though. It had thrown many bad things at her direction, so Josie just hoped and prayed with all her heart that this time, fate will be merciful towards Hope. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Please, let everything be alright…</em>
  </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you all for reading! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The doctor cleared his throat and positioned his glasses so he could see everything written on the printed pages more clearly. A long sigh escaped his mouth as he went through them once again, making sure that everything was okay, that he hadn’t made any mistakes. A few seconds later, the man looked at the two girls and saw their bodies shaking because of anxiousness. The sight made him feel a bit nervous, even though he had done this a thousand times probably and despite the fact that he was going to tell them somewhat good news.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>We tested for the standard STIs and HIV and the results came out negative,” the doctor told both girls and smiled slightly. “There are also no signs of pregnancy.” </span></p>
<p>
  <span>Josie and Hope immediately relaxed their muscles when they heard what the man had said. The two were so happy everything was okay that they were practically glowing. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Thank god she’s fine…</em>
  </span>
  <span> Josie thought as she looked at her </span>
  <span>auburn-haired</span>
  <span> friend’s smiling face and squeezed her hand in excitement.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>That’s wonderful! Thank you, doctor!” Hope said to the man while brushing away the tears of joy that had formed in her beautiful eyes.</span></p>
<p>“<span>But…” the doctor then continued, his expression changing back to a serious one, “Even if the results are negative now, we need to do a re-test in a few months.”</span></p>
<p>“<span>Is that really necessary?” Josie asked afterwards, her voice shaky since she feared that something might happen to Hope later in the future. As she waited for the doctor to answer her question, the </span><span>tall</span> <span>brunette</span><span> squeezed Hope’s hand once again in order to calm her down. She had become nervous once again.</span></p>
<p>“<span>The exam showed signs of trauma to the vaginal area. The re-test is just to make sure that everything is perfectly fine,” the white-haired old man explained to the girls and they both nodded.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>It was normal that the results came out that way. </span>
  <span>Landon</span>
  <span> had raped the girl, so there was no way that there wasn’t any harm done down there.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hope sighed once again and then she stood up from the couch she had been sitting on. Josie did the same as well and both girls were ready to leave this awful place they had spent their entire morning at. But before they could, the doctor told them that he had some more paperwork to fill out for Hope to sign. This meant that the two girls were stuck in the hospital for a good half an hour more. Just great…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hope was looking through her phone while waiting for the doctor to come out and give her the paperwork which she had to sign. Ten minutes had already passed and she was getting really really annoyed. </span>
  <span>
    <em>What’s taking that damn guy so long? I’ve filled so much paperwork in the </em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>M</em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>&amp;</em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>M</em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em> office and it has taken me half that time. Ugh, he’s so slow. </em>
  </span>
  <span>Hope thought and wanted to pull her hair in frustration at that moment. What made things worse was that Josie wasn’t there with her. She had gone to get something for both of them to eat, leaving the girl alone because someone had to stay and wait in front of the doctor’s door. Closing her eyes, Hope buried her face in her hands and felt like screaming her lungs out. She didn’t, of course, but she really wanted to. In some alternate universe where she didn’t give a damn about her reputation and what people thought of her, she would’ve done it in a second. It wasn’t going to matter whether or not everyone thought of her as some lunatic, a mentally insane woman who had probably forgotten her pills at home or something and was freaking out because of that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Suddenly, while Hope still had her face buried in her hands, she heard an unfamiliar voice coming from right next to her. When she uncovered her beautiful eyes, mouth and nose, Hope looked to her left and was greeted by the small body of a very young boy, probably at the age of seven or eight. The first thing Hope noticed when she saw at him was that he was completely bald and wearing the usual hospital gown that every person who was staying there for more than a day was supposed to put on without exceptions. Immediately, she knew what was wrong with him. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Cancer. Of cou</em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>r</em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>se…</em>
  </span>
  <span> Hope sighed, pitying the child because he had to fight against this serious illness at such a young age. It was very tragic and made her feel bad that she could do nothing to help the poor kid.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Are you an angel?” the boy asked the creative director curiously with his cute voice. “You’re very pretty.”</span></p>
<p>“<span>Why thank you, little boy…” Hope told the small person with a sweet and gentle voice, that of a mother or an older sister, and smiled at the compliment she received from him. “You’re very sweet. But what are you doing walking around here all alone?”</span></p>
<p>“<span>I ran away from my room. The nurse wanted to put a needle in my arm...” the young boy explained with a scared tone in his voice, making Hope look at him with a sad expression. The poor kid was obviously terrified because he had to go through that horrible experience probably every day. But she understood him a little since she was afraid of needles as well and would’ve done the same if she was in his place. Still, she knew that it was important for him to go back because the nurse needed to do the necessary procedures for his treatment. </span></p>
<p>“<span>You shouldn’t have done that. If you want to get better, you’d better go back to your room,” Hope scolded the child and crossed her arms in front of her chest. </span></p>
<p>“<span>It doesn’t really matter. It’s not going to do anything to make me well again. I know that…” the boy told her how he felt and sat down on the couch. “I’m going to die. But I’m not afraid. My mom’s waiting for me in Heaven. I know she is. She promised me that she will.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Hope’s eyes widened as soon as she heard what this mere child told her. He knew what kind of disease cancer was and how almost no one can survive through it, not even after chemotherapy. Heck, usually the patients die because of that, not so much from the disease. At such a young age, this little boy had already accepted his fate, which made Hope admire him and his strength. She wouldn’t have been able to handle everything like that if it was her in his place.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>There you are </span><span>Tommy</span><span>. I’ve been looking everywhere for you…” Hope suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice of a woman say. A few seconds later, a middle-aged nurse walked up to her and grabbed the boy by the hand. “Why did you run off like that? You know that it’s very important for you to get treated. Let’s go back to the room.” </span></p>
<p>
  <span>The boy couldn’t do anything but obey the woman as she pulled him down the corridor. She apologized to Hope before they left, for any inconvenience he might’ve caused her, to which the girl replied that it was no trouble at all. Before disappearing from view, the little boy waved his free hand, bidding farewell to the pretty angel he met and would probably never see again...</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A few days pass and Hope is still having trouble coping with everything that had happened to her. She had told Josie about the boy she met at the hospital and cried in the girl’s arms when they returned to her apartment because of his tragic fate. The </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> comforted her as usual, doing everything she could to make her relax and not think about bad things. It was like that during those few days. Hope would just cry and Josie would be there to help her like prince charming who’s always ready to rescue his princess. The girl was really optimistic that things would get better and she’d always tell Hope that. She was confident that the girl could get through this and was willing to do everything in her power to help her on the road to recovery. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On the sixth day after the incident at the apartment, Hope finally decided that she should try going out. She was tired of always staying at home and crying. It made her feel weak and pathetic, which was something she didn’t want. It wasn’t like this when her parents and boyfriend had died. Back then she became cold and emotionless, shutting herself off from the world. But this time it was different. Hope wondered during these past few days why she was coping with everything this way and not like the before. Had Josie changed her? Was it because the girl unlocked all those emotions hidden deep within her heart? She didn’t know…</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>I’d like a cup of coffee, please…” Hope said to a young woman behind the counter in a shop near her apartment.</span></p>
<p>“<span>Coming right up!” the employee said enthusiastically and began making the hot beverage immediately. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>When Hope’s coffee was ready, the girl paid for it and turned around, ready to head for the exit. She was satisfied with herself that she managed to buy her own coffee without needing Josie’s assistance. Unfortunately, while walking towards the door, she suddenly felt a hand brush up against her left butt cheek, making her immediately jump and spill the coffee all over a completely random person. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>I’m so sorry, sir. I didn’t mean for that to happen…” Hope apologized and then with tears in her eyes, she just ran out of the place as fast as she possibly could. It wasn’t like some perverted guy had tried to grab her butt or something. Everything was a complete accident. Hope just tried to pass through the huge line of people and get out of the coffee shop, but since it was long and crowded, it was just inevitable that she’d make contact with somebody.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>A few minutes later, Hope was inside her apartment, her whole body shaking and her heart beating extremely fast because of what happened in the shop. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Damn it, why am I so weak… </em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Afterwards, the girl did what she usually does in a situation like this one. She called Josie, her savior, to come and rescue her yet again. Honestly, she felt guilty because the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> was probably tired of her crap, but she needed her so bad, so there was no other choice. </span>
  <span>Freya</span>
  <span> was at the university and </span>
  <span>Lizzie</span>
  <span> wasn’t really that close to her. Josie was all she had…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>“<span>Shh, it’s okay… Everything’s going to be alright,” the </span><span>tall</span> <span>brunette</span><span> comforted Hope while she had her arms wrapped around her body on the couch in the apartment’s living room. The fact that Josie was hugging her made the girl feel relaxed, safe, as if nothing could ever hurt her again.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Hope rested her head on her friend’s shoulder and buried her face in her neck, inhaling that intoxicating scent the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> had. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>I’m so sorry for bothering you, </span><span>Jo</span><span>…” Hope said, her voice a bit muffled but Josie could still understand her. “I’m sorry that I’m so weak and you have to babysit me all the time.”</span></p>
<p>“<span>Stop, don’t worry about such things. I don’t mind at all, okay?” the </span><span>brunette</span><span> reassured her friend that everything she was doing wasn’t a problem at all. Hope heard what Josie said, but still felt guilty about all the crap she was going through because of her. A few seconds later, the girl started sobbing while her face was still buried in her friend’s neck. This caused Josie to place a finger under Hope’s chin in order to lift her face up so she’d look at her. The two stared into each other’s eyes as the </span><span>brunette</span><span> moved her hands to a new position, one they were never in until that moment. She cupped Hope’s face and gently brushed away the tears that were slowly falling down her cheeks. “Don’t cry anymore, please. A beautiful girl like you shouldn’t cry…”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Hope moved her own hands and placed them over the </span>
  <span>brunette’s</span>
  <span>, then closed her eyes and just nodded, telling Josie without speaking that she understood. A few seconds later, she opened them again and met the other girl’s gaze once more. She felt so captivated by her beautiful brown orbs and didn’t have the strength to move at all. It was like she was paralyzed by Josie, unable to move even a muscle because of the </span>
  <span>brunette’s</span>
  <span> magical stare. Soon after, Hope found the other girl slowly closing her eyes and leaning closer to her. Before she knew it, she felt a pair of lips pressed against her own, making her feel like her whole body was elevating and was being sent to this magical blissful place.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It felt absolutely wonderful, unlike anything she had ever felt thus far. The emotion was so strong, that it made Hope’s whole body feel weak. She’d never felt this way with anyone before, not even with </span>
  <span>Roman</span>
  <span>. But Hope soon realized what was actually happening. Josie was kissing her, really kissing her. Her eyes widened in shock as she just stood there without doing anything. Honestly, this was the first time a girl was actually kissing her. All those times at clubs or whatever other places she would go to, she’d always search for men, so the thought of doing anything with a woman had never really crossed her mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When she noticed that Hope didn’t reciprocate the kiss, Josie pulled away.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” she apologized to the girl and stood up from the couch. “I’d… I’d better go. I’m sorry.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Afterwards, Josie just ran straight out of the apartment as fast as she could, leaving Hope standing there in complete shock. Honestly, the thought of Josie and her might have crossed her mind once or twice since they became close, but she never really gave it much thought. She had never seen any woman in a romantic way before, so that’s why she was still in shock and couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. Hope didn’t know that Josie was like that, that she was attracted to girls. She had never mentioned it before at all. It was kind of obvious though, because the girl had never really had a boyfriend but Hope thought it was because she was too shy or something and not because she… was gay.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <a id="_GoBack" name="_GoBack"></a>
  <span>Hope had really mixed feelings about the girl now that she thought about it. She did think that Josie’s beautiful, attractive, cute, and the way she felt around her reminded her of how she felt around </span>
  <span>Roman</span>
  <span>. It was similar, but kind of stronger. Sometimes, she felt like she couldn’t breathe when she was around her, she felt her heart rate increase whenever Josie would touch her. Hope felt safe with her and so many other emotions, but she’d always brush everything off as nothing, never giving it much thought, not until now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But she was afraid that if she were to let Josie in like that, be with her in a romantic way, then maybe something bad might happen like it did with </span>
  <span>Roman</span>
  <span>. Hope was scared that fate might punish her again by taking the girl away from her. She was so afraid of losing Josie that it was killing her. </span>
  <span>
    <em>I need time to think, to sort my feelings out. I need to figure out what to do from now on…</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Don't worry, guys. Hope is okay... well, if you don't count the emotional trauma. Hosie kiss btw &lt;3 though with Josie running off like that.... ahem.. it didn't go all that well :D Stay tuned to find out what happens next! &lt;3 I'll post a new chapter tomorrow.</p>
<p>Thank you all for reading, commenting, leaving kudos, etc! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoyyy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>So many thoughts were running through Josie’s mind as she was making her way out of Hope’s apartment as quickly as she possibly could, going down the stairs in a fast pace and skipping one or two steps when she could. If someone had been </span>
  <span>watching</span>
  <span> her at that moment, they would’ve been worried that the girl might trip and fall down, which would result in injuring herself badly. At that moment, Josie was thinking about so many things and wasn’t really paying attention about that. She kissed Hope </span>
  <span>Mikaelson</span>
  <span>. She had actually pressed her lips against hers. It was never her plan to do it, but honestly, she had been thinking about this for a while, how she had been slowly developing feelings for Hope and how desperately she wanted to kiss her sometimes but she’d always stop herself from doing it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ever since they became close, Josie had started seeing the beautiful </span>
  <span>auburn-haired</span>
  <span> princess in a different way, one that she knew Hope wouldn’t like. She had tried to suppress these growing feelings because she knew that the girl was straight and would never look at her the way Josie wanted to, as more than just a friend. But this time, as Hope was crying and the girl was gently brushing her tears away, her hands touching her angelic face, she couldn’t help it. The urge was way too strong and Josie’s body moved on its own, leaning in and kissing the vulnerable girl. And that kiss was even more wonderful than Josie had expected. Time had actually stopped at that moment and she had felt those millions of butterflies fluttering in her stomach, the ones authors would always describe in the books she’d read. When she was kissing Hope, it was like nothing else in the world existed. It was just the two of them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But everything was over in such a short amount of time when Josie realized that Hope wasn’t reciprocating the kiss. She felt so embarrassed at that moment that the only thing she could do was pull away as fast as she possibly could and apologize for what she had done. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <em>Damn it, I’m so stupid. How could I let myself slip like that?</em>
  </span>
  <span> Josie thought after she stepped out of the building. The </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> then ran towards her car and quickly unlocked it, her mind still racing because of what happened a few minutes ago. The second she went inside the vehicle, the girl started it and drove off without giving it a second thought. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She didn’t know where she was going, so she just kept driving in some random direction. Josie was so worried about everything that happened because she didn’t know how things were going to be between her and Hope from now on. </span>
  <span>
    <em>What are we going to do? Are we still going to be friends? Would Hope avoid me after the kiss? What if she starts hating me?</em>
  </span>
  <span> she thought as she tightened her grip on the steering wheel. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the girl drove along the street full of so many vehicles, the scene with Hope replayed in her mind once again. Flashes of the girl’s beautiful face, captivating eyes and lips appeared before her. Honestly, Josie thought that Hope was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her life. She was a goddess to her and Josie was willing to do anything just to fulfill the girl’s every desire. But she really had no idea what would happen now, after the kiss, after she ran out of Hope’s apartment. Josie hated herself at that moment for probably ruining everything they had. Their friendship meant the world to her, but in her opinion, now it would probably crumble down after this. Hope being straight meant that she wouldn’t return her feelings. That was why Josie hadn’t told her about them and was suppressing the urge to do anything that would imply she saw her as more than a friend. But she made a mistake this time, one which she could never take back… </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Josie got home after a couple of hours of driving around the city. She didn’t feel like going to work at all, so that’s why she got back to her apartment. When she stepped inside, the girl was greeted by the usual sight of her </span>
  <span>sister</span>
  <span> Lizzie making out with her boyfriend on the couch. Every time, Josie would just shake her head as soon as she sees them or think something along the lines of “Don’t they ever stop sucking each other’s faces…” accompanied by rolling of her eyes in annoyance. Like, she had no problem with them kissing or whatever, but they were doing it every single day on that damn couch. Josie wondered how they weren’t tired of each other already. But then again, if it was her and Hope, she probably would’ve done the same, so she was in no place to judge. This time, though, when Josie saw them, she just did nothing and went inside her room. She ignored them both completely because she had so many things on her mind, ones that were more important and regarding a certain </span>
  <span>auburn-haired</span>
  <span> creative director. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As soon as she was inside her room, Josie slammed the door behind her and quickly went to her bed. She immediately let her body fall down on it as soon as her knees touched the edge of the mattress. Burying her face in her pillow, the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> then started screaming as loud as she possibly could in order to get rid of all that anger she was feeling. The girl had been mad at herself for all kinds of things in the past, but it was never this strong. The anger was almost at the point of turning into hate, all because of the fact that she let herself slip and kiss Hope. </span>
  <span>
    <em>I ruined everything… Damn it!</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eventually, Josie drifted off to sleep because she became tired from all that screaming. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was 6 PM when she woke up a couple of hours later. After opening her eyes, she was greeted only by darkness because the sun had already set. Sleepily, she brought herself out of bed and slowly walked out of her room. Josie bumped into a couple of things along the way, making them fall on the floor, but she didn’t really care. She wasn’t in a state where she could comprehend what she was actually doing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> stepped into the living-room, she made an annoyed face and squinted her eyes because the lights were turned on and were bothering her. But she didn’t turn them off and let her eyes adjust. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Come on… How can you be stuck?! Stupid thing!” Josie suddenly heard her </span><span>sister</span><span> Lizzie’s annoyed voice booming inside the living-room. She turned her head in the direction where the loud sound was coming from and was immediately greeted by the sight of the blonde’s almost fully-naked body. She couldn’t comprehend what was happening in the first few seconds, but after she realized that Lizzie wasn’t wearing much of anything, Josie’s eyes immediately widened in surprise. Her sister was in some very attractive red thongs only and was bent down, hovering over the couch and doing something as one of the cushions was lifted up. The rest of Lizzie’s body wasn’t covered by anything. Josie </span><span>would totally be drooling if the girl wasn’t her sister since she was very attractive.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>That’s how it is </span>
  <span>usually </span>
  <span>when you’re attracted to women. The </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> didn’t know how it exactly started, when she began seeing people of the same sex in a different way, but she came to realize it when she was fourteen and was at some sleepover with her friends from school. At that time, Josie understood that she was looking way too much when the girls she was with were undressing and changing into their pajamas. But it wasn’t just girls that she liked, she was also into boys. To her, the gender of the person she was attracted to didn’t matter at all. She had the opinion that you fall in love with someone because of their personality, character, not because of their outer appearance. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> watched Lizzie do something on the couch, but she didn’t know what. She couldn’t see clearly from across the room, so she just asked her curiously,”Uhmm </span>
  <span>Liz</span>
  <span>, what are you doing?”</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Oh shit! Josie, you scared the crap out of me,” Lizzie said and jumped a little because her sister had startled her. She hadn’t noticed her come out of her bedroom at all. </span></p>
<p>“<span>Sorry…” the </span><span>brunette</span><span> apologized and moved closer to the other girl. “I didn’t meant to.”</span></p>
<p>“<span>It’s fine. Can you come help me, please? </span><span>Rafael</span><span> hid my favourite bra between the cushions before he left. He did it to tease me, that bastard. But now it’s stuck and I can’t get it out…” Lizzie explained the situation to Josie and sighed in annoyance. It seemed like she didn’t really care that she didn’t have any clothes other than the thongs on. </span></p>
<p>“<span>Oh my god, are you serious?” the </span><span>brunette</span><span> said and began laughing her ass off. She thought that the whole situation was hilarious. Like really, how can you not laugh at the sight of your sister being almost fully-naked and trying desperately to pull her bra out from between the couch cushions?</span></p>
<p>“<span>Stop laughing and come help me, please…” Lizzie pleaded again as she bent her body a little more and tried to see where exactly the thing was stuck. Only half of the bra was visible because the girl was able to lift up one of the cushions, but she couldn’t move the other since the couch was structured in such a way that it didn’t let her. She tried looking carefully but she just couldn’t see anything. </span></p>
<p>“<span>Move over, let me try…” Josie told the blonde and </span><span>then afterwards made an attempt to get it out.</span><span> “How the hell did it get stuck this way?!” </span></p>
<p>“<span>I don’t know… I have no idea how </span><span>Rafael</span><span> did it,” Lizzie told her with an angry tone in her voice. “Damn, I’m gonna make him pay… He’ll see what I’ll do to his Scooby Doo boxers…”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>After about fifteen minutes of struggling, Josie finally managed to unstuck the bra. A satisfied smile then grazed her face as she yelled out in happiness,”I did it!”</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Yes! Thank you, </span><span>Jo</span><span>!” Lizzie said after she got her favourite bra back. </span><span>She stood silent for a few seconds afterwards and then began speaking again. </span><span>“So tell me, why did you lock yourself up in your room for so long?” Lizzie asked her sister curiously. She had noticed that the girl came home a couple of hours ago but she was too busy with her boyfriend and couldn’t go check on her. When </span><span>Rafael</span><span> left for work though, Lizzie realized that it’s been a long time since her sister had been in there, which made her curious and slightly worried for her. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>Josie knew that this was coming, that Lizzie would ask her what’s wrong. She sat down on the couch and then afterwards just muttered under her breath in response, “I… kissed Hope.”</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>YOU DID WHAT?!” Lizzie then yelled out, her eyes widening in surprise at the same time.</span></p>
<p>“<span>I know, I know… I should’ve known better since the last time something like this happened. But I just couldn’t help it, </span><span>Liz</span><span>. She was so beautiful… I wanted to kiss her,” Josie said and buried her face in her hands.</span></p>
<p>“<span>What was her reaction?” Lizzie then asked, her facial expression still shocked because she couldn’t believe that Josie did such a stupid thing again. She knew better than to go for a straight girl since the last time it happened a couple of years ago with one girl that she met at the grocery store. They became close and everything at the time, but then Josie started seeing her as more than a friend and one day kissed her. The girl, though, turned out to be such a homophobe that she didn’t speak to the </span><span>brunette</span><span> ever again afterwards. Josie was so heartbroken because of that and it took her such a long time to recover from the pain. Now, it seemed like history was repeating itself again and Lizzie didn’t want the </span><span>brunette</span><span> to go through something like that again.</span></p>
<p>“<span>I don’t know. I ran out of there as fast as I could…” Josie answered her sister’s question and sighed. “I ruined everything, </span><span>Liz</span><span>… She probably won’t talk to me again.”</span></p>
<p>“<span>Shh, don’t think like that. Maybe everything will be okay,” Lizzie reassured the </span><span>brunette and put a hand on her shoulder</span><span>. She didn’t know why but she thought that it probably would be different this time. </span><span><em>Maybe Hope isn’t like that bitch. I hope she doesn’t start hating Josie or else she’ll see the wrath of Lizzie </em></span><span><em>Saltzman</em></span><span><em>.</em></span></p>
<p>“<span>Let’s hope you’re right. I don’t want to lose her…” Josie said as tears began forming in her eyes. She was so scared of Hope hating her that she felt like her heart was being ripped apart. “I don’t want to experience this again, </span><span>Liz</span><span>…”</span></p>
<p>“<span>Okay, enough of this! Pull yourself together, </span><span>Jo</span><span>!” the blonde told her sister with a bossy tone because there was no point thinking about this now. Things might be fine and Josie could just be worried for nothing. “Let’s go out so you’d take your mind off things. I’ll call the girls and tell them to meet us in half an hour, okay?” </span></p>
<p>
  <span>Josie wiped her tears away and just nodded her head. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Lizzie’s right. I should stop worrying about this. Hope might not be homophobic. At least, I hope she isn’t… Please, let her not be. I don’t want to lose her…</em>
  </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hosie will talk soon, I promise... :D Stay tuned for that! ;) &lt;3 </p>
<p>Thank you all for reading, commenting, etc. &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Josie and Lizzie stepped foot inside one of their favourite cafés in Mystic Falls – Café Hue, the place that in their opinion made absolutely the best coffee in the whole city. They had been going there for as long as they could remember. Many years had passed since the first day they saw it and decided to give the café a try. It was at a great spot in the center of the city, the staff was very friendly and the atmosphere inside the café was really cozy and welcoming. The place was crowded like it usually was, but the girls weren’t worried about that because their two close friends Dana and Maya had already saved a table with two vacant seats.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The moment both girls saw Lizzie and Josie approaching, they jumped up from their seats and began squealing like a couple of crazy girls. The two hadn’t seen their friends for about a week and they really missed them a lot. Some might say they were exaggerating a bit with all that squealing. People don't see each other for years and still don't act like them. But it was how they've always been. To them, this was completely normal behavior. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lizzie began making loud noises and jumping in excitement as well at the sight of Dana and Maya. But Josie, like usual, immediately rolled her eyes and made an annoyed face at the sight of </span>
  <span>the</span>
  <span> three friends. Honestly, she didn’t understand why they did that at all. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Are they in high school? Jeez…</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p><span>Josie deemed their behavior as childish and extremely annoying. She still couldn't get used to it after all these years. The three really did act like a bunch of students, or more likely, those popular girls you see in high school, the cheerleader types that everyone thinks are annoying as hell. Indeed, it was pretty irritating for Josie and everyone else in the café. People stared at them, some with shocked and bewildered expressions, others with annoyed ones because they couldn't drink their coffee in peace. All of this made the </span><span>tall</span> <span>brunette</span><span> feel embarrassed that she’s with the group of screaming girls. Thankfully, the loud noises Lizzie and the others were making died down after a minute or two, so Josie sighed in relief that it was over.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>When the four girls were finally at the table and were sitting comfortably in their chairs, the waiter came to take their order in no time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What will it be, lovely ladies?" the young and very attractive man asked while throwing his irresistible smile at them. He was definitely new because the four of them hadn't seen him before. They would’ve definitely noticed a hot waiter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I'll have a Cappuccino, please," Lizzie replied normally to his question. He wasn't really the type of guy she could be attracted to. Plus, she wasn't single, so that gave her a reason not to flirt with him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I'll have one too," Josie told him, her reaction the same as Lizzie's. He wasn't her type as well. What he was lacking was long </span>
  <span>auburn</span>
  <span> hair, angelic face, being the creative director of </span>
  <span>MIkaelson</span>
  <span> &amp; </span>
  <span>Mikaelson</span>
  <span> and going by the name Hope Mikaelson. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On the other hand, Dana and Maya had something caught in their throats and didn't say anything. They were completely mesmerized by the man. Everything about him attracted them, especially his fit body. Lizzie immediately noticed the trans her friends were in and shook her head. After letting out a sigh, she then decided to answer for her friends. "They'll have what we're having."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Okay then, four Cappuccinos! I'll be back with your drinks shortly," the handsome waiter told them and then turned around to leave. As he was walking away from their table, Dana and Maya kept staring at his cute round ass and each of them wished she could get her hands on it. Sadly, their daydream was broken a few seconds later by Josie who snapped her fingers in front of their faces.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"God, he's not that good-looking. Stop drooling..." she told them and then crossed her arms in front of her chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"It's obvious that you'd say that, Josie. You'd prefer it if he was a girl," Maya said and leaned back in her seat while Dana kept nodding her head repeatedly, agreeing with what the girl next to her had stated.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Not really. How many times do I have to tell you that I don't like only girls? I fall in love with the person no matter the gender," Josie explained angrily and afterwards sighed in annoyance. She had been telling this to her friend over and over again for so many years, but </span>
  <span>they still didn’t get it</span>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah, yeah... If you say so," the girl replied and acted like everything Josie had told her wasn't true. Honestly, Maya didn't believe her. She was on the principle that you're either gay or straight, that there's no in between. They'd occasionally argue with Josie about that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> was about to respond to her friend's words, but Lizzie was quick enough and interrupted her. She didn't want them fighting because Josie had too much on her plate at the moment and this would add even more stress to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Let's talk about something else, okay girls?" Lizzie said to all of them. "Don't fight, please." The others just nodded, listening to the girl and doing what she says. “So, have you two heard the big news?” the </span>
  <span>blonde</span>
  <span> asked, a smirk immediately forming on her beautiful face. She thought it was about time for the gossip session to begin. “That skank </span>
  <span>Wendy</span>
  <span> and </span>
  <span>Ja</span>
  <span>son</span>
  <span> have finally broken up!”</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Oh my god!” Dana and Maya both yelled out at the same time, their jaws dropping in shock because of what their friend had told them. Josie of course rolled her eyes again because she wasn’t interested at all in the conversation. She never was actually when they were talking about gossip. Each time when she’d go with her friends to this café, she’d always just play games on her phone or do something random because they’d always talk about that stuff. She wasn’t into it at all. Some might ask why the hell did she continue going with them all those years and the answer was fairly simple – she hated rejecting people and didn’t want to appear as rude.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>"I know! That was my reaction as well," Lizzie said loudly and crossed her legs while leaning back in her chair. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Here are your drinks, ladies..." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Suddenly all of them heard the attractive voice of the waiter a few seconds later. The young man put the four drinks on the table and then scurried off once again, but not before giving all of them his signature smile, melting Dana and Maya's hearts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <em>Oh god, I want to get out of here... </em>
  </span>
  <span>Josie thought and pulled her hair in annoyance. </span>
  <span>
    <em>I really want to leave. Why did I even agree to come in the first place? </em>
  </span>
  <span> She regretted joining her friends like she always did. </span>
  <span>
    <em>I need to learn how to start saying no... </em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Ohhh!" Dana suddenly yelled out because she thought of some juicy gossip, making everyone turn around and look at her. "Okay, come closer all of you!" she then said and motioned with her hand for the other three girls to lean in. "Did you guys hear that Landon Kirby landed in jail for rape?" Dana was whispering so no one else in the café could hear her except her friends.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Josie felt her blood boiling at the mention of the man who raped Hope's name. She hated him so much and felt like prison was not enough as a punishment. The girl felt that he should be murdered for committing such a horrible crime. But there was nothing she could do about that...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Josie moved uncomfortably in her seat and squeezed the edges of the chair she was sitting on so hard with her hands that her knuckles began losing their color. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh yeah. I heard about that. Wait, wasn't he your boyfriend's friend, </span>
  <span>Liz</span>
  <span>? How is he coping with this, the poor guy?" Maya asked her friend and took a sip of her Cappuccino. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Uhmm, they used to be friends, but </span>
  <span>Raf</span>
  <span> said they began drifting apart not long ago. So, he doesn't really care. He's fine," Lizzie lied to her because she wanted to get this topic over with. She didn't want </span>
  <span>Josie</span>
  <span> to become even more upset. Josie had told her everything that happened at Hope's apartment the day after it did, making Lizzie completely shocked. She couldn't believe that Landon would do such a horrible thing because he appeared as a very caring and sweet guy. But more importantly, the way the </span>
  <span>blonde</span>
  <span> felt was nothing compared to what Josie went through for actually witnessing it. And what about poor Hope? She was the victim after all. Lizzie thought she must be so traumatized after going through such a terrible and horrifying experience. Lizzie's boyfriend was extremely shocked about what his closest friend did as well because he wasn't expecting it at all. Rafael felt like Landon wasn't the same person, despite both of them being friends for so many years. So, he wasn't "fine" like Lizzie had stated, but he was in fact devastated by everything. Even though he didn't show his feelings, the </span>
  <span>blonde</span>
  <span> knew that her boyfriend was dying on the inside. He was joking around and still smiling, but that was all because he was trying to hide the pain he was experiencing in his heart...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I see..." Maya just said and Lizzie sighed in relief that the girl might drop the damn subject.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"So, did you guys hear about-" the </span>
  <span>blonde</span>
  <span> began, attempting to change the topic of conversation to something else, but before she could finish saying her sentence, Maya began talking about Landon again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"It's so tragic... Such a handsome man like Landon ruining his life like that," she said and took another sip of her Cappuccino.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Probably some hoe is responsible for this. She made him go dark and turn into a rapist," Dana then stated with a disapproving tone in her voice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That was it. Josie couldn't take it anymore. She didn't want to listen to this. It was too much, so she just angrily grabbed her things and left without saying a word.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What was that about?" Maya asked and raised an eyebrow in confusion after she saw the blonde leaving like that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Uhmm, I think that there's some trouble at the grocery store. I'll go check on her," Lizzie told her and went after her </span>
  <span>sister</span>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After the </span>
  <span>blonde</span>
  <span> left as well, Dana turned to Maya and whispered, "Do you think that </span>
  <span>Josie</span>
  <span> is the girl that Landon raped?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Maybe... It's probably because she </span>
  <span>likes girls</span>
  <span> and refused to have sex with him!" Maya replied quietly and Dana nodded her head repeatedly. Afterwards, the two continued gossiping about everyone they could think of.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Josie, wait..." Lizzie said as soon as she caught up to her </span>
  <span>sister</span>
  <span>. She then grabbed her by the hand, making her immediately stop in her tracks. Josie turned around, her eyes filled with tears, and she looked at Lizzie with such an upset and hurt expression.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"How can they talk like that? They're so awful..." the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> uttered as the tears continued streaming down her face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Come on, you know how they are... They're just a little insensitive sometimes," Lizzie defended the two girls, making Josie even angrier.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"A little? Are you serious?" the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> said while raising her eyebrows in surprise. She couldn't believe that her </span>
  <span>twin</span>
  <span> was actually defending them. But she didn't have the strength to argue with her now, so she just said, "Listen, I don't want to fight, so I'm just gonna go to the grocery store, okay? I'll see you at home."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After that Josie left without even looking back, while Lizzie just stood there wondering whether or not she should follow her again or let her have some time alone. It was obvious that the girl was really upset. In the end, Lizzie decided to let her cool off, so she went back to the cafe and continued talking with her friends.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>An hour or so had passed since Josie went to the grocery store. She was trying so hard not to think about everything that had happened so far with Hope and with her friends at the cafe. While </span>
  <span>arranging</span>
  <span> products on the shelves in a specific order, Josie sighed because she felt so damn frustrated because of all the crap she went through in the past couple of days. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Why can't everything just be fine? Why must life be so hard?</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After she put everything in its proper spot, Josie just stood there and stared at all the products and how perfectly they were arranged.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You guys have it so easy. You don't have to worry about anything because you can't. You're inanimate objects. God, I wish I was like you..." Josie began talking to the products in front of her. "You have no idea how lucky you are. Do you know how hard it is to have feelings for someone that can never be yours? Hope is so beautiful... She takes my breath away with her angelic voice." Josie was so engaged in talking, so concentrated, that she didn't hear somebody enter her grocery store at that moment. "When Hope looks at me, I feel my heart stop," Josie continued, making the person who had entered's eyes widen in shock. "I want nothing more than to wrap my arms around her body and hold her, kiss her. I never want to let her go..."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Josie..." the </span>
  <span>tall brunette</span>
  <span> suddenly heard a familiar voice utter her name, a voice that she adored so much. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Hope...</em>
  </span>
  <span> Josie thought and turned around, her eyes connecting with Hope's. The two were staring at each other, their gazes so intense that it was driving both of them crazy. Hope had heard everything the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> said a few moments ago and she was so touched by her words. No one, not even her deceased boyfriend </span>
  <span>Roman</span>
  <span> had ever said such sweet things. But this made Hope even guiltier for what she was about to do. The reason she came to the grocery store was because she couldn't reach Josie on her phone or at the apartment and she really needed to talk to her about what happened between them. As much as she was attracted to the girl and wanted to be with her, she knew that she shouldn't. As much as she wanted to, she knew that she had to reject her. Hope was afraid that something bad might happen to Josie like it did with </span>
  <span>Roman</span>
  <span>. She knew that fate was punishing her, so she couldn't risk it. Hope cared about Josie way too much and was willing to give up her own happiness just so she could be safe.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Hey..." Josie said after a while with her soft voice, making Hope feel butterflies in her stomach. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I tried to reach you on your phone, but there was no answer," the </span>
  <span>auburn-haired girl</span>
  <span> told her and moved closer to the </span>
  <span>tall</span>
  <span> grocery shop owner.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I forgot my mobile at the apartment, sorry..." Josie apologized and continued looking at Hope, wondering what she was going to say and why she was looking for her. She was relieved that the girl wasn't avoiding her at least and didn't hate her. By the look of things, that was the case obviously. So, this gave Josie a little bit of hope that maybe Hope would somehow accept her feelings.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <span>Jo</span>
  <span>, we need to talk about what happened between us..." the creative director said and moved even closer, now standing right in front of Josie. "I heard what you said... I'm flattered that you have such deep feelings for me, that I'm so important to you..."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <em>Oh damn, I don't like where this is going at all... </em>
  </span>
  <span>Josie thought and felt a little disappointed because she expected Hope to reject her in a few seconds.</span>
</p>
<p><span>"But you don't feel the same way. I get it... I understand," the </span><span>tall</span> <span>brunette</span><span> answered before the other girl could say it.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm sorry... I'm not attracted to you in a romantic way," Hope lied to her. She didn't want to do it, but she knew she had to. God, she wanted to kiss her at that moment more than anything, to wrap her arms around the girl's body, but she stopped herself from doing it. </span>
  <span>
    <em>This is for your own good, Josie... I'm just trying to protect you because I'm so afraid of losing you. I can't let fate take you from me like it took </em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>Roman</em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>. </em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>People around me end up dying. I can’t let that happen to you...</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"It's alright, don't worry about it... I have no choice but to deal with it," Josie told her with a sad tone in her voice. "You can't just magically start liking girls now, can you?" she then said and chuckled, making Hope laugh as well. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Oh you're so adorable, Josie. I really am sorry for doing this to you...</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"This won't affect our friendship, I promise. Don't worry..." Hope reassured her that nothing would change between them. Even though it already has... Hope had thought a lot about it ever since Josie kissed her. She was so goddamn attracted to her that it was killing her that she knew she shouldn't act on her feelings. The girl wanted Josie so bad in every way possible. Now that she knew that the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> felt the same way, things were going to be different between them even though they would try to keep them the same as before. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After Josie heard what Hope said, she leaned in and embraced her, burying her face in the girl's neck at the same time. The hug was so filled with emotion and both girls felt it, so neither of them attempted to move or let go of the other. They didn’t want to.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As they stood like that, the Josie and Hope couldn't possibly see or notice that unfortunately, someone was staring at them from outside the grocery store with a disgusted expression on their face. A white-haired old woman was looking at them through the window, thinking about how this is the perfect chance to get her revenge on the grocery shop owner who she held a grudge against because she had once argued with her that roosters cannot lay eggs. </span>
  <span>
    <em>I will have my revenge, just you wait! </em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>What a bunch of ugly lesbians... How can two girls hug so intimately? It's disgusting... </em>
  </span>
  <span>she thought and turned around afterwards, then slowly walked away from the grocery store.</span>
  <span>
    <em> I will make you close down this damn store for messing with me, foolish girl...</em>
  </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sooo... Hope feels the same way but she's scared to act on her feelings... After all that's happened to her, I can't really blame her. :/ A bit of drama is approaching thanks to the crazy old woman... Stay tuned to find out what happens next. &lt;3</p>
<p>Thank you all for following this story, commenting, leaving kudos, etc! You guys are awesome! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoyyyy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">It was early in the morning, about seven o’clock, and Josie Saltzman was heading to her grocery store, ready for another hard day of work. She was determined that she would make a lot of money today, that customers would be coming and going as if she was selling hot pancakes with banana and chocolate. Unfortunately though, the girl was in for a surprise…</p>
<p class="western">When she was almost near her workplace, from the other side of the street, she saw about thirty or more old people huddled there in front of her store, each one holding a huge sign in their hands. Josie could hear them yelling from there some words that she didn’t understand because she was too far away. It was obvious to the girl that they were protesting, but she didn’t know why. <em>Did I do something wrong?</em> <em>What are those people doing?</em> <em>Are they out of their minds? </em>These questions ran through Josie’s mind as she crossed the street in order to get to her store and see what the hell was going on.</p>
<p class="western">“There she is!” the brunette heard some old guy yell out as soon as he noticed her. Then all the other people turned around and started saying angrily, “Get the hell out of here, lesbian! You are an abomination and do not deserve to exist!”</p>
<p class="western">As she listened to their horrible words, Josie felt her body start shaking in fear, especially her hands and legs. The girl's heart was beating rapidly as she tried moving through the crowd in order to get to the door of her grocery store. When she, by some miracle, managed to reach it, she turned towards the old people and asked with a shaky and pleading voice, “Why are you doing this? Please, stop! What have I done to you?”</p>
<p class="western">Unfortunately, no one answered her. Everyone just continued saying horrible things and telling Josie to close her damn grocery store. With teary eyes, the terrified girl scanned the crowd of people and could feel all the negative energy which they emitted hit her. She couldn’t handle all of it and felt as if she would faint any second. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before and she didn’t know what she did to deserve it. She had always been a good kind-hearted person who helped other people in need of service, especially the senior citizens who needed it the most. She’d give her money to the homeless, buy them food, help old people cross the street. Josie had been perfect, so she didn’t know why these citizens would do such a thing to her.</p>
<p class="western">Amongst the crowd, Josie suddenly noticed the somewhat familiar face of an old woman that she had once seen come into her grocery store. But she didn't recognize her. <em>Who is this woman? Why does she seem so familiar?</em> Josie wondered as she kept starting at the granny who was now slowly moving closer to her, taking careful steps with her wooden cane in one hand to help support her and the protest sign in her other one.</p>
<p class="western">Josie fell to her knees in front of her grocery store as the situation started becoming worse with each passing second. People had suddenly began throwing rotten tomatoes at her and the poor girl could do nothing else but use her arms to cover her head and try to shield herself. They hit her body and splashed all around her, making everything a complete mess.</p>
<p class="western">When the granny finally reached Josie, she signaled for her subordinates to stop attacking. The brunette felt her presence in front of her, so she removed her arms from her face and looked up, her eyes then meeting the old woman’s.</p>
<p class="western">“Stand up!” she demanded and hit the girl on the shoulder with her wooden cane.</p>
<p class="western">Josie screamed in pain and held her shoulder while tears streamed down her face. She then did as she was told and quickly pulled her body off the ground while the granny stood there like a commander.</p>
<p class="western">“Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?” Josie asked, her voice sounding terrified because she feared that the crazy woman might attack her again.</p>
<p class="western">“You don’t remember how you once argued with me that roosters don’t lay eggs?” the granny asked and lifted her cane up again, ready to hit Josie once more. She was furious that the younger girl didn't recognize her. “How dare you not remember?! I really needed those rooster eggs, girl, and you made a fool of me. You must burn in Hell for everything you've done!”</p>
<p class="western">The brunette’s eyes grew wide as soon as she heard the woman’s words. She finally remembered who this woman actually is and how she and Kym had told her that roosters do not lay eggs probably two or more months ago.<em> Is she seriously organizing a protest just because of something as stupid at this? How can she hold a grudge for an idiotic reason like that?</em></p>
<p class="western">Of course, that was the real reason behind the protest, but she couldn't organize so many people just for that, so the granny used the fact that she saw Josie and Hope hugging as a way to get more senior citizens to come. The older generation didn't understand and couldn’t accept same-sex relationships, so it was the perfect opportunity for the woman to get her revenge.</p>
<p class="western">“Are you out of your mind, you crazy old hag? Are you seriously doing this because I told you that roosters don’t lay eggs?” Josie suddenly yelled in the woman’s face, making her even angrier than before.</p>
<p class="western">“Don’t you dare talk to me like that, you disgusting lesbian! That's just one of the reasons why we're protesting. You're a bad influence on the children who live here, so leave and never come back!" the granny said with a furious tone in her voice and was about to hit the girl once again. Luckily, someone showed up just at the right time and stopped the woman before she could land a hit.</p>
<p class="western">“Kym?” Josie uttered as she saw one of her closest friend come to her rescue.</p>
<p class="western">“You! You also argued with me that day!” the psychotic granny said as soon as her eyes met the other girl’s. Before she could do anything to react, though, Kym punched the woman straight in the face, making her fall down on the ground unconscious along with her cane and protest sign.</p>
<p class="western">“I’m not supposed to hit grannies, but you asked for it. What a hag…” she then said as she looked at the old woman lying there motionless.</p>
<p class="western">As soon as she laid the punch on her, though, the crowd of old people started moving towards them, yelling out that they’d teach them a lesson for hitting a senior citizen.</p>
<p class="western">“Quick, let’s get out of here, Jo…” Kym told her friend and as fast as they could, they began running towards Kym’s apartment. The old people were slow and there was no way they’d catch up to them, so the girls didn’t have to worry about that. They should be terrified only if they catch them, because then they’d probably beat them to death with the signs or their wooden canes.</p>
<p class="western">A couple of minutes later, Kym and Josie were away from the crowd of old crazy people and safely inside the girl's apartment.</p>
<p class="western">"God, that was insane. Are you okay, Jo?" Kym asked her friend with a voice filled with concern. She had seen everything that happened from her window because it had a clear view of Josie's grocery store.</p>
<p class="western">"Not really... My shoulder hurts thanks to that woman who hit me with her cane," the brunette told her and took her shoes off before walking inside the living room.</p>
<p class="western">"Remove your jacket and shirt. I’ll bring you some ice to put on the bruise to ease the pain," Kym then said worriedly and headed for the kitchen to get a bag of ice cubes from the freezer.</p>
<p class="western">"You'll need one for your hand as well. It must've hurt like hell when you punched the old woman," Josie said as she remembered how Kym came to her rescue a few minutes ago. <em>Man, if it wasn't for her always checking on me whether I go to work or not every morning, I would've been a gonner. </em>Josie thought as she took her jacket with the shirt undernearth it off and smiled at the thought of her friend always looking out for her. Even though she was in so much pain at that moment, despite everything she went through, the girl still managed to put a smile on her face.</p>
<p class="western">"Here..." Kym said a minute later when she returned from the kitchen and handed the brunette a bag of ice for her shoulder.</p>
<p class="western">"Thanks, Kym. For everything..." Josie expressed her gratitude and took the cold thing in her hand, then pressed it gently against the purple bruise on her shoulder, hissing as soon as it touched it. That granny had hit her hard...</p>
<p class="western">"So, wanna tell me why those people were protesting exactly?" Kym asked after a few seconds of silence.</p>
<p class="western">"That woman was the one that came to the store a few months ago, I think. You know, the one who wanted rooster eggs..." Josie began explaining the situation to the girl.</p>
<p class="western">"Ohhh yeah, I remember that hag. Dude, what the hell? Why are they protesting because of such a stupid reason?" Kym then said with a confused tone and raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p class="western">"I asked her the same thing, but she said that that wasn't the only reason..." Josie continued explaining to her friend. "She called me a disgusting lesbian, Kym... Said that I'm a bad influence on children or something."</p>
<p class="western">"That's absurd... Why does she even assume that you're into girls?" Kym asked with a shocked voice. Everything Josie was telling her sounded so strange and she couldn't understand what the hell was going on in that granny and the rest of the old people's heads. This situation is something that you'd only see in the movies and couldn't possibly happen in real life. But for some odd reason, it was happening now and to Josie of all people, to one of the sweetest and most gentle people Kym had ever met. No one deserves to be treated like that, especially not Josie. "And what the hell is going on with these old people? They're so insane..."</p>
<p class="western">"I don't know, Kym... I really don't," Josie answered with a voice which sounded so desperate and lost that it was breaking Kym's heart into millions of pieces.</p>
<p class="western">"We should call the police..." the girl then said angrily and picked up her phone. "We have to sort all of this out..."</p>
<p class="western">"No, please... I don't want to deal with the police anymore. I've had enough," Josie told Kym after she heard what she said and grabbed her phone from her hand.</p>
<p class="western">"How do you suggest we deal with this situation then?" Kym sighed and asked, not liking the fact that her friend doesn't want to call the cops.</p>
<p class="western">"I don't know. We can maybe talk to her or something like rational people..." the brunette answered the question. She didn't really believe that her plan could work, but she still had to try. Josie didn't want to go to such an extent like calling the police for something that she could possibly solve herself. Plus, she believed that if maybe she apologized or something, then the granny would accept it and let her be. Oh how naive she was...</p>
<p class="western">"Well, alright... Let's hope your plan works. But how are we going to get close enough to her without her minions attacking us?" Kym wondered as yet another sigh escaped her mouth.</p>
<p class="western">"Again, we can try talking to them like rational people... Maybe they'd listen. If not, I don't know..." Josie said and adjusted the bag of ice on her shoulder.</p>
<p class="western">"We're calling the cops if they don't, alright? It will be a backup plan," Kym told her friend with a serious tone in her voice.</p>
<p class="western">"Fine..." the brunette muttered under her breath. She accepted her friend's suggestion even though she didn't want to. The girl really didn't want to get the police involved because she was sick of dealing with them. They still hadn't found out who robbed Hope's store. At least they were keeping Landon in jail, but who knows for how long? Josie didn't really trust the police all that much...</p>
<p class="western">Josie decided to spend the next few hours at Kym's apartment, trying to get her mind off things because they chose to deal with the granny later, once everyone kind of cools off...</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Creative director Hope Mikaelson walked inside her company’s building and immediately every employee’s eyes were on her gorgeous figure. She looked absolutely stunning like they’ve always seen her, but this time, her aura was a bit different. She didn’t give out a terrifying one, but rather, a gentler and happier one. Maybe it was because the girl was smiling, something her employees hadn’t seen their boss do in such a long time. They were used to being afraid of her, but now, they felt glad to see her. It wasn’t like before when they didn’t want to lay eyes on her at all because of fear that she might fire them or something.</p>
<p class="western">This was the first day Hope was back at work since the rape. She had decided not to be afraid and weak anymore. The girl felt that she should finally pull herself together and do her job. After all, Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson’s one of the most important things to her and she’d be damned if she’d let it go out of business because of her being a weak and scared person who’s too afraid to go and face the world.</p>
<p class="western">As Hope made her way to her office, she greeted every single one of her employees with “Hello!” or “Good day!”, making everyone surprised. Usually she didn’t say a thing and waited for everyone else to greet her, but now she was doing it first.</p>
<p class="western">Before going inside her office, Hope stopped at her secretary Alyssa’s desk and immediately, the poor employee stood up and nervously said, “Good day, Miss Mikaelson!” before bowing.</p>
<p class="western">“Hello, dear Alyssa!” a smiling Hope Mikaelson said to her secretary. “How have you been? Have you been taking care of the office while I’ve been gone?”</p>
<p class="western">“Of course, Miss Mikaelson!” Alyssa answered like a soldier. “I’ve filled out all the documents that I was required to and talked with Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson’s partners about the new sketches.”</p>
<p class="western">“Good job! I’m so glad that I have such a hard-working secretary!” Hope said and continued smiling, making Alyssa a bit shocked because she had never seen her boss act like this. <em>Is she on drugs or something?</em></p>
<p class="western">“Also, I left your coffee on your desk…” Alyssa then continued talking, a bit more calmly this time, because she saw that Hope wasn’t going to yell at her or anything of that sort.</p>
<p class="western">“Thank you!” Hope expressed her gratitude towards her secretary. “You deserve a prize for your work!”</p>
<p class="western">After saying that, Hope began looking through her designer handbag for something special that she reserved for her secretary. Alyssa was really confused now because she had never received anything from her boss other than the normal salary she got every month.</p>
<p class="western">A couple of seconds later, Hope took out a super cute hair pin and handed it to Alyssa while still smiling brightly.</p>
<p class="western">“Oh my god! Thank you so much!” the girl said and took the small thing from her boss’s hands. She had always admired Hope Mikaelson’s taste and everything she was giving her meant that it was of high value. “I shall cherish it like I do my own life!” Alyssa then told her as she held the pin with both hands. Afterwards she brought it to her mouth and planted so many kisses on the small item as if it was the most expensive and precious thing in the entire world.</p>
<p class="western">“I’m glad you like it!” Hope told her happily, the smile never leaving her face. “Okay, I have to go do my job now. You keep up the good work.”</p>
<p class="western"><a id="_GoBack" name="_GoBack"></a> After that Hope opened the door next to her and walked inside her office, ready to tackle whatever her job had in store for her with everything she’s got!</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Protest time... :D Those crazy senior citizens have definitely lost their minds..</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Double update! &lt;3<br/>Enjoy guys! ^-^</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">
  <span>A boy named Milton Greasley woke up from his amazing sleep, ready to face the day. It was eleven o’clock, almost lunch time, and he couldn’t wait to see what his darling best friend and housemate Kym had prepared for him. Smiling, MG got off his bed, went inside his bathroom to wash up and then walked out of his room in his pajamas. Unfortunately, his smile fell when he didn’t smell anything delicious that was cooking like he did every day. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Kym?” MG called out for his housemate, but he didn’t receive a reply. </span><span><em>Where could she be? </em></span><span>the boy wondered and began walking down the corridor. He checked the kitchen and Kym’s room, but his housemate was nowhere in sight. When MG got close to the living-room, though, he heard familiar voices coming from inside. After he opened the door, he saw Kym and their mutual friend Josie sitting on the couch and watching some movie on TV.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Kiss her, man! Don’t be a wuss!” Kym yelled at the guy on the TV who was too afraid to kiss the love of his life. “If it were me, I’d totally do it without hesitating…”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Yeah, that’s why you haven’t confessed your feelings for Lizzie yet,” Josie stated after she heard her friend’s words.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>The moment MG heard the name Lizzie, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He disliked the name and the person who had it, because it was who Kym was madly in love with. Thankfully for MG, Lizzie was straight and had a boyfriend, so nothing had happened between her and Kym and never would hopefully. That’s what still gave the boy hope that maybe someday he could finally be together with his best friend romantically.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Morning, guys! What are you watching?” MG asked and walked to the couch, then sat next to Kym, like really really close to her, almost snuggling into her.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Some stupid romance movie. There’s nothing else good on,” Kym replied without even looking at the poor boy. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>It’s not that bad actually,” Josie said and leaned back on the couch, her eyes not leaving the TV screen.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Cutie, you forgot to make me breakfast…” MG then whined and pouted at Kym, ignoring the brunette because he didn’t really care at all about the movie. He was just asking for no reason.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Ohhh, I’m so sorry, MG…” the girl told him and gave him a sweet hug. They were acting like the cutest couple in the world even though Kym didn’t see it that way. She saw her actions as those of a normal best friend, nothing more. While MG was screaming internally with joy because of all of this. “I promise that I’ll whip you up something right now. What do you want? Pancakes? Waffles?”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Mmmmm, I want…” MG began but paused to think what he actually wants to eat. “I want… waffles, please! Made with love!”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Awwww, you are so cute…” Kym told him and then got up from the couch before heading to the kitchen to whip up the best waffles for her best friend.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>You know that she sees you as only a best friend, right? She loves Lizzie. Why don’t you just give up and stop hurting yourself like this?” Josie asked MG and sighed. She felt sorry for the poor guy who was experiencing unrequited love. She knew perfectly well how he was feeling because she was going through the same thing with Hope. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I love her too much…” MG replied with a hint of sadness in his voice. “Even if she never loves me back in that way, I don’t care. I just want to love her, so I will never give up…”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I see…” Josie said and nodded. She really did understand MG because that’s what she was doing with Hope. No matter what, she’d never stop loving her like her friend would never stop loving Kym.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>A few minutes later, Kym came back to the living-room with plates full of waffles and a bunch of different bottles of syrup.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>What’ll it be, MG? Jo?” Kym asked while smiling widely like a dork. “Chocolate? Strawberry? Banana?” </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Ohhhh, I want strawberry, Kym!” MG yelled out in excitement and began jumping up and down on the couch.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie on the other hand just said normally, “I’ll go with chocolate.” </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>The brunette looked at MG grabbing the syrup from Kym’s hand and then putting almost half the liquid inside the bottle on his waffles. At the same time, he was still energetic as hell and Josie didn’t know where the hell he got all that energy from. She herself wasn’t like that at all, especially when she had just woken up. Josie would always feel really tired the moment she gets out of bed and if she doesn’t drink any coffee, she’d be like that the whole day, while MG was energetic all the time, even without the help of caffeine.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie put some chocolate syrup on her waffles slowly and carefully, unlike the boy who was squeezing the bottle like a maniac. When she was finished, she took the fork and knife, and began eating the waffles like any civilized normal person would. MG, on the other hand, used no utensils whatsoever…</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Look at Josie, MG… This is how you eat waffles!” Kym scolded the boy. “Not like a pig…”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I can’t help it, Kym… They’re so delicious!” MG spoke with his mouth full, emphasizing on the word “so” in order to show his best friend that he really does find her waffles extremely tasty and wonderful.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>The girl shook her head as a sigh escaped her mouth. </span>
  <span>
    <em>You act like such a child MG… And even so, I can’t help but find you adorable.</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>While Josie was eating her waffles, she suddenly felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. The vibration was short, which meant that she received a text message. After taking a bite, she took her mobile out and unlocked it in order to see who had contacted her.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>A smile immediately formed on the brunette’s face when she read, </span>
  <span>
    <em>1 New Message from Hope &lt;3</em>
  </span>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>
    <b>From Hope &lt;3: Jo, are you free for lunch? ^-^</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie was literally screaming on the inside with joy as soon as she read what Hope had texted her. She was so happy that the girl wanted to see her for lunch that she didn’t care if she was eating right at that moment. She would abandon the damn waffles right then and there and go eat with the girl of her dreams.</span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>
    <b>To Hope &lt;3: Sure! : )) At what time should we meet?</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Immediately after she sent that message, Hope replied. Not even three or four seconds had passed and she received an answer from the girl.</span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>
    <b>From Hope &lt;3: How about 12h at my office?</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie felt as if she was going to die of happiness. She was going to meet Hope in almost half an hour and her heart was beating so fast against her chest because of that. The brunette couldn’t wait to see her, even though they saw each other the day before and Hope practically smashed all her hopes for a relationship. But that didn’t matter. Josie was okay with it. She was fine with having the girl like this. It didn’t matter if she loved her back because what she cared about was Hope being happy. And Josie was willing to do anything for that to happen. If she was happy being with a man or the two of them staying friends, Josie was willing to accept that. She’d do absolutely anything for the girl. That’s how selfless she was.</span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>
    <b>To Hope &lt;3: Alright! See you there. : ))</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“<span>What are you smiling about?” Kym asked her friend when she saw the huge grin she had on her face as she was texting on her phone.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Mmm, I’m meeting Hope at twelve o’clock,” Josie said, the excitement evident in her voice. “So… I have to go now, sorry guys…”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>It’s okay, go meet your girlfriend,” MG teased the brunette, making her blush at the thought of Hope being her girlfriend, but also kind of sad at the same time since that would never possibly happen in her opinion. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Hey, she’s not my girlfriend! She’s just a friend…” Josie replied a bit angrily since she didn’t like to be teased. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Whatever you say…” MG laughed and then continued eating his waffles, letting the delicious taste of them mixed with strawberry syrup consume his senses.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie left a minute or so later and walked back to her and Lizzie’s apartment. She was very careful not to go past her grocery store because the old people might still be there, so she went some other way in order to go home safely. Once she was in front of the apartment, she took her car and drove to Hope’s company’s building.</span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie arrived at Hope’s office ten minutes earlier than planned, so she waited a little bit in her car. She wanted to be on time because she feared that if she were to go in early, she might disturb the girl’s very important work. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>While she waited, she remembered everything that happened that morning in front of her grocery store and felt sick because of the things those old people said to her. </span>
  <span>
    <em>How can they hate me so much? I wish this nightmare could be over quickly so everything would get back to normal… </em>
  </span>
  <span>Josie thought and tightened her grip on the steering wheel. Then suddenly her thoughts went to Hope and how amazing she probably looks in a suit. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Bosses usually wear suits to work, so Hope has to as well. Man, I bet she looks more breathtaking than usual…</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>A sigh escaped the girl’s mouth after a few seconds and she then looked at her phone to see what time it was. </span>
  <span>
    <em>12:05?! What the hell?</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Guess she got a little too lost in her thoughts…</span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie quickly bolted out of her car and went inside the Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson building. She then made her way up to the elevator and went all the way to the last floor where Hope’s office was situated. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Excuse me, how may I help you?” Alyssa asked the brunette as soon as she noticed her head towards her boss’s office.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I’m here to see Hope Mikaelson,” Josie answered the girl’s question while panting from all that hurrying she did to get there. “We have a twelve o’clock lunch meeting.”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Ahh, you must be Josie Saltzman. Yes, she’s expecting you. Go right in!” Alyssa told her and motioned with her arm for her to head inside.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie knocked three times on Hope’s door and then opened it, like every polite person is supposed to do. As soon as she stepped inside, she saw a smiling auburn-haired princess sitting behind her desk, staring at her with those gorgeous eyes of hers.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>You didn’t have to knock, Jo. I was expecting you,” Hope said as soon as Josie walked inside and closed the door behind her.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I know, but I couldn’t do it. I should show proper ethic when entering inside the office of a very successful business woman,” the brunette stated and hung her jacket next to Hope’s inside the office before sitting on the chair in front of the desk.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Once Josie was sitting down, she looked at Hope more carefully, examining her amazing facial features and how elegantly that suit she was wearing fitted them. The brunette felt as if the beauty before her was taking her breath away. Hope admired Josie as well, even though she was wearing a normal shirt and jeans, she still found her beautiful. The two girls just stared at each other without saying a single word. They were just exchanging glances and admiring one another. After a minute or so, Josie finally broke the silence as she felt kind of weird for staring at the girl, even though she saw that Hope was oddly doing the same thing for some reason. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>So, where are we going for lunch?” she asked, snapping the creative director out of her trance.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Mmm, I was thinking we could eat here, since I have only like an hour or so,” Hope told her, making Josie a bit sad that she wasn’t going to spend a lot of time with her auburn-haired angel. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Okay, should we order or…?” Hope heard the girl say and immediately shook her head before answering her question.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I’ll tell my secretary to buy us something delicious and bring it here.”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Oh, alright then…” Josie said and nodded her head after she heard the girl’s words. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>A few seconds later, boss Hope Mikaelson used her office phone to inform Alyssa about this, making the other girl chuckle.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>What’s so funny?” Hope asked as soon as she hung up and pouted cutely.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Nothing, I just find you adorable…” Josie answered, making the girl’s cheeks turn pink with her words.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Shut up…” Hope then said and looked away. “You’re making me feel embarrassed.”</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie then started laughing because of what the girl had said, but unfortunately, she was laughing a little too much and suddenly felt pain in her shoulder that was hit that morning. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Ahhh…” Josie hissed and placed her hand on her bruise.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Jo, are you okay?” Hope quickly asked with a concerned tone and stood up from her chair, then made her way to the other girl. “What’s wrong?” she said and placed her hand on top of the brunette’s and knelt down.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Nothing. I just… Something happened this morning,” Josie answered without looking at Hope, while the other girl moved her thumb and gently caressed the skin of her hand. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Then Josie began explaining what exactly went down in front of her grocery store, making the auburn-haired creative director’s eyes widen in shock. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>That old woman… She has no right to attack you like that. That’s a crime. We should call the police,” Hope said angrily after the other girl finished what she was saying. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>No, please… I don’t want to deal with the police again,” Josie told her with a pleading voice. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Okay, then we’ll go talk to her. I’ll get one of my bodyguards just in case…” Hope then said while still caressing the girl’s hand. She was speaking with a calmer voice this time.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Okay…” Josie agreed and finally looked into Hope’s eyes. The girl could swear that at that moment she felt something more than friendship between them. She could feel how Hope was seeing her as something more, as if she had lied to her. But Josie thought she was just fooling herself, just giving herself false hope. Hope had no reason to lie to her if she felt the same way. But deep down, Josie could just feel how something was different between them. She didn’t know what, but it was there and she knew it…</span></p>
<p class="western"><a id="_GoBack" name="_GoBack"></a> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope's gonna help Josie deal with the crazy senior citizens protest. Stay tuned to find out how that plays out in the next chapter! &lt;3 </p>
<p>Btw Hosie are just adorableeee... &lt;3 </p>
<p>Thank you all for reading, commenting, leaving kudos, etc! &lt;3 Love you guys! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoyy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">"I called you here today for only one specific reason," creative director Hope Mikaelson said to the seven bodyguards in front of her desk. "To choose which one of you will be accompanying Josie Saltzman and myself in a few hours at a very important meeting."</p>
<p class="western">She was speaking like a commander who was about to give out orders to her loyal subjects and Josie thought that that was beyond hot. Hope had her head raised high and her body straightened as she talked, which made her seem so goddamn powerful that anyone would surely do whatever she told them. Josie definitely wouldn't mind being the girl's slave at that moment. In fact, some very inappropriate thoughts entered the brunette’s mind as she continued looking at Hope. Images involving her strapped to a bed while the mighty Miss Mikaelson tortured her with a whip flashed before her eyes. The atmosphere inside the office surely felt very hot for the girl because of that.</p>
<p class="western">"Yes, Miss Mikaelson!" all of the bodyguards voiced out at the same time, nodding their heads as soon as they heard Hope's words.</p>
<p class="western">"Turn around now!" the auburn-haired creative director ordered her subjects, making them quickly move their bodies around. Her voice was stern and frightening, and could make anyone shake in fear if they happened to hear it. A few seconds later, Hope turned her attention to Josie and with the sweetest and most gentle voice, which was in complete contrast to the one before, called her name, "Josie..."</p>
<p class="western">The other girl looked at her straight in the eyes and felt her heart immediately skip a beat. The completely different way she was speaking at that moment, her voice filled with so much emotion, just mesmerized the brunette. On top of that, the way Hope was staring at her with those blue eyes of hers was so captivating and it made Josie lost for words.</p>
<p class="western">"Yes?" Josie finally asked after a while of staying silent, her voice low, sounding more like a whisper than anything else.</p>
<p class="western">"Which one of my bodyguards do you want accompanying us today?" Hope said with the same gentle voice she had called Josie's name with and then moved closer to the girl.</p>
<p class="western">The two were standing face to face, just looking at each other. For them, it felt as if no one else was in that office and it was just the two of them. Both girls were concentrated on each other so much. Each of them admired the other's facial features and couldn't move their eyes away. Hope felt captivated by the other girl's adorable nose and cheeks. She had the urge to just caress them with her hand, but refrained herself from doing so. While Josie kept looking at the auburn-haired creative director's lips which seemed so delicious that she wanted to just taste them so badly. Neither girl made a move and just stood still and silent until suddenly, a loud coughing was heard inside the office, making both of them snap out of their daze immediately.</p>
<p class="western">"Oh shit..." one of the guards said as he coughed repeatedly while the other two next to him were patting him on the back.</p>
<p class="western">"Get him some water," another one stated and grabbed a bottle which was on top of Hope's desk.</p>
<p class="western">"Wait, idiot! That's Miss Mikaelson's bottle... We can't give him that..." bodyguard number six yelled out and hit his co-worker on the head for being stupid.</p>
<p class="western">"It's alright. Give it to him!" Hope ordered and the man did as he was told immediately. The still coughing bodyguard took the bottle and drank it whole before finally feeling better.</p>
<p class="western">"I apologize for this inconvenience I have caused, Miss Mikaelson," said the man and then bowed to Hope.</p>
<p class="western">The auburn-haired girl nodded her head, accepting the apology without saying anything else. She didn't actually blame him for causing any inconvenience, it wasn't his fault at all because he couldn't really control this, but she just didn't voice it out loud.</p>
<p class="western">"So, Jo... Which one do you want?" Hope then asked Josie once again, her voice still as sweet and gentle as before.</p>
<p class="western">"I don't know. I think it doesn't matter really. All of them are probably good at their job and will protect us from those senior citizens," Josie answered the girl's question. She honestly thought that way, but Hope unfortunately did not accept her answer. The girl wanted only the best protection, so she turned to her bodyguards and decided to choose herself.</p>
<p class="western">"Bodyguard Phill, you're out. Leave!" Hope then said to the bodyguard who was coughing a few moments ago. The man immediately left the office when he heard his boss's words. After that Hope started walking around the rest, closely examining each and every one of them. "Dave, get out as well. You're too fat. That means you'll be slow and might not react in time if someone attacks Josie or me."</p>
<p class="western">Five bodyguards were then left and after closely examining them, Hope finally chose one - the loyal Bruce. Satisfied with her choice, the girl smiled widely and told the man to meet her and Josie downstairs in two hours. Bruce nodded and then bowed to both his boss and her friend before finally leaving the office.</p>
<p class="western">When Hope and Josie were left alone, the tall brunette let out a "Wow!" as she couldn't believe how serious the other girl was about this whole thing.</p>
<p class="western">"Why are you so surprised?" Hope asked her and chuckled as soon as she noticed her cute reaction.</p>
<p class="western">"I've never seen anything like this before," Josie gave her an honest answer. "Why did you-"</p>
<p class="western">Before the brunette could finish what she was saying, though, Hope answered the question she was about to ask, "You deserve only the best protection..."</p>
<p class="western">As soon as Josie heard those words, she leaned forward and just wrapped her arms around Hope's body. "Thank you!" she then uttered as she held her and buried her face in the girl's neck. "Thank you so much..."</p>
<p class="western">Hope smiled and put her arms around the brunette’s body as well. She felt so happy that she could help her, that she could be useful to her in some way instead of Josie always looking after her. Hope felt good because of the fact that she could repay the brunette for everything she had done for her. Well, at least a little bit...</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">"Are you nervous?" Hope asked Josie while they were both sitting in the back seat of her expensive car with Bruce driving towards the grocery store.</p>
<p class="western">"A little..." she answered, her hands shaking a bit. Honestly, she was more than just nervous. She was scared even though she knew that she didn't have to be. Those old people were frightening. Plus, she was only brave when someone close to her was at risk. When it was her own life that's at stake, she probably wouldn't be able to do anything to protect herself.</p>
<p class="western">"Don't be. Everything will be alright..." Hope reassured her and placed her hand on top of Josie's, squeezing it gently afterwards. The brunette immediately relaxed as soon as she heard those words. She was so grateful at that moment for having Hope by her side and didn't know what she'd ever do if she lost her. The girl would probably be devastated by the fact. Not having Hope in her life equaled death to her, simple as that. Josie couldn't imagine living in a world without the other girl in it and couldn't comprehend how she had been going through life before meeting her.</p>
<p class="western">When they arrived at the grocery store, Josie noticed through the car's window that the senior citizens and their leader, the insane granny that hit her, were still there, protesting as enthusiastically as ever. They were dead set on her closing down the store and it seemed like nothing could stop them at all.</p>
<p class="western">Josie and Hope got out of the car along with Bruce the bodyguard and made their way to the crowd of old people. As soon as the senior citizens noticed Josie, they began yelling even louder for her to get the hell out and shut down the damn grocery store. Hope felt disgusted at the sight of all these people acting so childishly and idiotically. She couldn't understand how they could act so insanely stupid. But still, they were old people and old people were weird and unpredictable. You never know what's going on in their heads.</p>
<p class="western">"Well, well... the lesbian returned. You want another beating I see? Where's your friend? She needs to pay for hitting me..." the granny suddenly appeared from somewhere and said to Josie. She moved closer to the girl but Bruce immediately stepped in front of her, his tall and very muscular figure blocking her way.</p>
<p class="western">"Listen here... Get your and your friends' old wrinkly butts out of here and stop bothering Josie, alright? Or else there will be severe consequences, I can promise you that..." Hope threatened the old woman who didn't seem at all bothered by her words.</p>
<p class="western">"You can't tell me what to do, girl. Who do you think you are? I am not running away just because you’re threatening me or have brought a bodyguard," she just said to the auburn-haired girl, making Hope throw a death glare at her direction.</p>
<p class="western">"I am Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson's creative director Hope Mikaelson and I have enough money to wipe you and your minions off the face of the Earth," the girl stated with a very frightening tone in her voice. The only time Josie had ever heard Hope speak that way was at their first meeting in Hope's clothing store. It sounded so hostile and scary that even Bruce felt a shiver down his spine.</p>
<p class="western">"You..." the granny uttered as her eyes became wide. She then slowly brought her shaking hand up and pointed at Hope's face before continuing to speak. "You're the famous Hope Mikaelson?!"</p>
<p class="western">The granny couldn't believe that this was actually happening, that she was face to face with the creative director of Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson.</p>
<p class="western">"Yes, I see that you know how powerful-" Hope began speaking but was suddenly cut off by the granny.</p>
<p class="western">The old woman suddenly said with a pleading tone, "Can I please have your autograph? It's for my dear sweet grandchild. She looks up to you so much. Her room is filled with many pictures of you."</p>
<p class="western">"Uhmm..." Hope along with Josie and Bruce looked at the old woman with very confused expressions on their faces after hearing that. <em>What is happening right now?!</em> Josie wondered because the whole situation was getting weirder with each passing second. "If you promise to stop all these protests, I will give you the autograph. Do we have a deal?"</p>
<p class="western">The granny looked at all the senior citizens with the big signs around her and then at Hope and Josie. She didn't like it even one bit, but she decided to accept the auburn-haired girl’s request. Her grandchild was more important to her than anything in this world and she'd do whatever she could to make it happy.</p>
<p class="western">"Alright then. I will accept your offer and stop the protests..." the old woman answered after a long sigh escaped her mouth.</p>
<p class="western">Afterwards the granny turned around and told everyone that they should stop because they had made a huge mistake. "I mistook the girl for someone else..." she lied to them in order to make them understand why they shouldn't do this.</p>
<p class="western">A few minutes later, all the senior citizens had left and the granny received the autograph for her grandchild, so everything had went perfectly. Josie and Hope couldn't have felt happier at that moment because they really believed that it was finally over, all the bad things that were happening to them and they could finally move on with their lives…</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Thank you for helping me, Hope. I couldn’t have done this without you,” Josie told Hope afterwards when they were alone in the grocery store.</p>
<p class="western">“Don’t worry. That’s what… friends are for, right?” the girl replied with a kind of sad tone in her voice because she wanted them to be more than just friends… Josie picked up that something wasn’t entirely right because of the way Hope answered, but didn’t say anything. She just brushed it off because she didn’t want to dive into all this too much. Overthinking was bad and Josie decided to stop doing it.</p>
<p class="western">“Yeah…” the brunette just uttered and then gave Hope a hug, making the girl feel all those wonderful butterflies in her stomach with the gesture. “Oh! Let’s celebrate!” Josie then said enthusiastically a few seconds later and pulled away, breaking the hug. “I have something hidden away for only special occasions!”</p>
<p class="western">As soon as she heard the brunette’s words and saw Josie head inside some secret room, Hope wondered what this thing that the girl had reserved for moments like this one is.<em> Could it be some special bottle of wine?</em> <em>Whiskey? Or maybe Vodka?</em></p>
<p class="western">All kinds of alcoholic beverages ran through her mind in a matter of seconds but something told her that it probably wasn’t anything related to that. Josie wasn’t a fan of them. She was unpredictable, unlike anyone the girl had ever met, so Hope had no idea what she had prepared.</p>
<p class="western">When Josie came back a few minutes later, she had her hands behind her back, obviously holding something she didn’t want the other girl to see yet.</p>
<p class="western">“Okay so… What I am going to share with you is something very special, Hope. I’ve never done this with anyone because I’ve been saving it for when I meet someone really special,” Josie explained, making Hope blush with her words. She was indeed flattered that the brunette thought of her that way.</p>
<p class="western">Unfortunately, though, when Josie showed her what she was holding a few moments later, her smile immediately fell. Hope’s expression darkened and she felt as if she would throw up right then and there. What the girl had in her arms made her feel disgusted, so Hope moved backwards and began screaming. Much to Hope’s dislike, Josie was holding a jar of pickles, the one thing the other girl despised the most in this world. She hated anything that had to do with cucumbers ever since she was a young girl. Just the smell of these green things made her want to barf.</p>
<p class="western">Josie noticed the other girl’s reaction and her eyes immediately widened in shock. She then asked with a panicked tone, “What’s wrong?”</p>
<p class="western">“Get those horrible things away from me right now!” Hope yelled out while pointing at the pickles and ran behind the counter, away from Josie and the jar.</p>
<p class="western">“What? But these are just pickles… Why are you so afraid of them?” the brunette said worriedly and moved closer to the other girl. “There’s nothing to be scared of…”</p>
<p class="western">“I said get them away from me!” Hope continued yelling, making Josie quickly go back to the secret room and place the jar on the spot it had been in for a long long time.</p>
<p class="western">When she returned, the other girl was still behind the counter, her whole body shaking because of the traumatic for her experience. Josie had no idea why Hope was so afraid of a jar of pickles, but she thought that it would be best if she didn’t ask since the auburn-haired girl was too traumatized.</p>
<p class="western">“Shh, it’s okay… I got rid of it, alright? You’re safe,” Josie then reassured the girl after she wrapped her arms around her body in order to calm her down.</p>
<p class="western">“Don’t ever do that again!” Hope told her as tears streamed down her face and she held onto the other girl tightly. She buried her face in Josie’s neck while the tall brunette then gently began caressing her back.</p>
<p class="western">“I won’t. I promise…” the girl said afterwards to Hope as she continued holding her. She’d know from now on that the creative director of Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson and cucumbers don’t mix at all. She felt a bit sad, though, because she couldn’t share the special jar she had been saving for years with the person she wanted to the most. <em>We’ll have to celebrate a different way then… </em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I love leader Hope Mikaelson ordering those bodyguards around ;D :D :D :D so fucking hot.... and yet the girl is afraid of something as stupid as pickles... :D Oh Hope.... tsk tsk tsk :D </p>
<p>The shit with the senior citizens is over guys :D thank god :D It's one part of the fic that I don't particularly like very much but I don't want to cut things out of the original story, so yeah... :D whatever... :D </p>
<p>Thank you all for reading, commenting, leaving kudos, etc! &lt;3 You guys are the best readers anyone could ask for! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sooo some of you were asking about the pickle thing. I think I replied to all of you about why Hope was afraid of them, but I'll still write it here. :D </p><p>The reason Hope doesn't like anything cucumber, pickle or whatever related is because in the original version of my fanfic, the girl that her character is based on absolutely HATES cucumbers in real life. She despises them. She can't stand the smell or taste and screams whenever she's near them. It's like... an actual thing, because of some childhood trauma or something. There will probably be no explanation in the story about her cucumber phobia since this thing was kinda known in the fandom at the time I was writing the fic 5-6 years ago. :D I would've included an explanation now in the chapters but I'm afraid of adding any additional things to the story cuz I feel like I might fuck it up. I usually connect a lot of things in the chapters and yeah... That's also the reason why I don't remove scenes from the story unless I absolutely have to.</p><p>I know that some things might seem weird... I personally don't like the old people protesting chapters for example.. so I also feel like some scenes are weird now that I'm reading them, but it just is what it is. :D Things were a whole lot different 5-6 years ago in fanfiction and things that we now consider strange, weren't viewed that way back then, especially in k-pop... there are some pretty crazy things in k-pop fics, guys, trust me... :D </p><p>That's all I wanted to say. :D </p><p>Hope you enjoy this chapter! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Small whimpers came out of Josie’s mouth as she kept turning in her bed. For the first time in a long while she was having a bad dream, one that was terrifying and that would probably leave her feeling horrible for the rest of the day. She was running in her dream from a huge mob of old people that were holding all kinds of weapons and were ready to strike her at any moment. But for some reason, they didn’t, they just kept chasing her. Also, the whole environment they were in was so different than a normal one. The sky was colored in bloody red and the trees covering the ground around Josie and the old people were without any leaves, almost completely dead. It was very spooky, like something you’d see in a horror movie.</p><p>The brunette was running as fast as her legs could take her along a trail as the mob continued chasing her. She had no idea where that path would lead her but she just kept following it because if she didn’t and they catch her, she’d probably be dead in a second. Josie was panting, her breathing was so heavy that she felt like she’d pass out, but she didn’t stop running.</p><p>“I have to escape from them,” the brunette said in her dream and jumped over a fallen tree that was blocking her path, scratching her leg in the process. Red liquid quickly covered the wound and Josie felt immense pain. She hissed, but still didn’t stop running. “Don’t give up, Josie… Run!” she kept telling herself repeatedly and increased the pace in which she was moving.</p><p>Suddenly, the scenery changed completely and Josie found herself in an abandoned cottage, one of those old English small houses that agricultural workers lived in during the Middle Ages. The brunette slowly walked around the house, now feeling safer because the mob was nowhere in sight. As she made her way through the different rooms, her eyes caught sight of something intriguing in the kitchen. There was a gorgeous auburn-haired woman, dressed in formal medieval clothing.</p><p>“Hope…” Josie uttered as soon as she had a good look at her face. She had a smile so bright that it felt like this woman could light up the whole world with it. The weird thing was that Hope didn’t acknowledge her presence and was just cutting up some vegetables on the kitchen counter. Josie moved closer in hope that the other girl would notice her. She even called out her name, but Hope continued cutting like some kind of robot. It was like there was absolutely no one else in the room besides her, like Josie was an invisible spirit that had no corporeal form whatsoever.</p><p>When the brunette moved even closer to the other girl, she noticed that Hope was cutting cucumbers and mumbling some very disturbing things under her breath.</p><p>“Take that you horrible green monster. Die! Die! Die!” Josie heard her say and immediately widened her eyes. She couldn’t comprehend how such beautiful girl who smiled so brightly could say such terrible things. The contrast was incredible and overwhelming. Hope was so psychotic in her dream and Josie was kind of afraid to approach her even further. But in the end, she did and oh what a bad mistake she made…</p><p>“Hope, what are you-“ Josie tried saying, but suddenly Hope started screaming at her and she couldn’t finish her sentence.</p><p>“Don’t you dare come closer or I will cut off your head…” the auburn-haired girl yelled but the voice Josie heard wasn’t Hope’s. It was deep and demonic which sent shivers down the short girl’s spine. She backed away from her in fear, but the auburn-haired girl then pointed the knife at her and continued uttering death threats.</p><p>The scenery changed a few seconds later and both girls were inside Hell with its large fires burning around them. Hope’s expression turned dark and her eyes became completely black. She had turned into the Devil himself and was coming after Josie, who unfortunately couldn’t move because she was paralyzed with fear.</p><p>“It’s time for you to die, girl…” Hope said with the demonic voice once again and came closer to Josie. She then stretched out her right arm and gripped the other girl’s neck tightly with her hand, strangling her.</p><p>“Don’t! Stop!” Josie yelled out in her sleep and then suddenly everything became black with the demonic scenery and Hope disappearing completely.</p><p>A few seconds later, the brunette woke up and found herself in her own room, surrounded by all her things. Josie was panting and her body was drenched in sweat as she stood on the bed in a sitting position. She looked around and sighed in relief that everything was all just a nightmare. <em>It wasn’t real…</em> Josie thought and placed her palm on top of her heart, feeling how fast it was beating against her chest. <em>It wasn’t…</em></p><p>A minute or so later, the brunette noticed her phone’s screen lighting up on top of her nightstand. Stretching her arm, Josie then grabbed it and saw that there were like thirty unread messages and ten missed calls all from the same person – Hope Mikaelson.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>From Hope &lt;3: Hey cutie, what are you up to? ^-^</b>
</p><p>
  <b>From Hope &lt;3: Ugh, guess you’re busy… :c </b>
</p><p> </p><p>Josie smiled at the nickname Hope called her. She’d been doing that for the past couple of days. Of course, she asked the girl if it was okay first because she didn’t want her feeling uncomfortable. When Josie told her that she didn’t mind, Hope started calling her “cutie”. The brunette found it adorable because no one had ever called her something like that before. Hope was the first and last person she wanted to give her such a nickname. When Josie asked her why she choose “cutie”, Hope just replied with, “Because you’re so adorable, that’s why.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>From Hope &lt;3: Ughh, I’m so boredddd… I finished my office paperwork and I have nothing to dooooo… ;///</b>
</p><p><b>From Hope &lt;3: It’s been 2 hours, </b> <b>Jo</b> <b>. Is everything okay? Please, text me… </b></p><p>
  <b>From Hope &lt;3: I’m getting really worried about you…</b>
</p><p> </p><p>Josie continued scrolling down, reading all the messages that Hope had sent her. <em>I better tell her that I’m okay…</em></p><p> </p><p>
  <b>To Hope &lt;3: Hope, I’m sorry for the late reply. I was sleeping. :c I’m alright, don’t worry. Everything is fine! : )) </b>
</p><p> </p><p>The girl decided not to tell Hope about the dream because it didn’t really matter at all. It was just a dream. Nothing more and nothing less. Just a weird dream…</p><p>As soon as Josie hit send, she immediately noticed the little “Seen” message appear under her text, indicating that Hope had read it.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>From Hope &lt;3: Oh… I feel so stupid now… I’m sorry ;//</b>
</p><p> </p><p>Josie then saw Hope write and she immediately frowned and replied to her message.</p><p> </p><p><b>To Hope &lt;3: You have nothing to apologize for. I understand that you were worried. It makes me happy that you care so much about me… </b>♥</p><p> </p><p>Josie smiled as soon as she sent that message and felt her heart beating fast with happiness. On the other side of the screen, Hope was feeling the same way as her. <em>I really do care about you, Josie, more than you know... I wish that we could be together, but I can’t do it. I really do want to, though...</em> Hope thought as she read what the other girl had written for probably the tenth time. She then wrote a couple of hearts as well and sent them, her expression a little sad now because Josie didn’t know the actual meaning of these hearts. She didn’t know that Hope had expressed how she really felt about her through them.</p><p> </p><p><b>From Hope &lt;3: </b> ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥</p><p> </p><p>When Josie saw the cute little hearts a small giggle escaped her mouth. <em>Hope is so damn adorable when she texts…</em>  the girl thought and her smile widened even more. She felt like she could text her for hours on and not get bored. Just like if she were to talk to her. Hope was such an easy person to have a conversation with and Josie felt like she could tell her absolutely anything, even her deepest darkest secrets. That was how much she trusted her and cared about her…</p><p>As the girl continued looking at them, she suddenly heard some shouting coming from the living room. <em>What the hell is going on?</em> Josie wondered and stood up from the bed, then went to the door and pressed her ear firmly against it in order to hear what was going on.</p><p>“You are such an idiot, Rafael! How can you still care about that monster Landon after what he did?” Lizzie shouted at her boyfriend and buried her fingers in her hair in frustration.</p><p>“He’s my best friend, Lizzie. How do you expect me to feel?” Rafael yelled out, finally letting out all of those feelings that he had kept bottled up inside himself ever since he found out that Landon had raped Hope.</p><p>“You understand what he did, right? You understand what kind of crime he committed?” the blonde said angrily and Rafael just scoffed. Of course he understood. He’d been trying to cope with it for the past two weeks, to figure out how his friend could do such a horrible thing.</p><p>“Yes, of course I know…” he just replied.</p><p>Lizzie, who made an amused face, then told him, “And still you want to go see him almost every day? Still you want to help him? He should rot in jail for what he did to poor Hope. You shouldn’t even be speaking to him, Rafael…”</p><p>The blonde continued yelling at her boyfriend who just stood there silent because he knew that Lizzie was right, but he just didn’t want to accept it. He didn’t want to think of his friend as a rapist even though he, in reality, was one. The boy had known Rafael for such a long time and didn’t want to lose him…</p><p>“Don’t you think I know that? Huh? Don’t you think I know that he should get what he deserves?” Rafael then shouted and with his hand, pushed a vase full of flowers that was on the table, making it fall on the floor and break into millions of little pieces.</p><p>“If you continue seeing him, then you can forget about me. Do you hear me, Rafael?” Lizzie threatened him, “If you continue to see that monster in jail, then it’s over between us. I don’t want to have anything to do with someone who associates himself with a rapist, and especially a man whose supposedly ‘best friend’ forced himself on my friend…”</p><p>“Fine! Then I guess we’re done, Lizzie!” Rafael then yelled out before grabbing his jacket and running out of the apartment with so much anger pulsating in his veins.</p><p>As soon as he left, Lizzie burst into tears because everything that happened and which they talked about was too much for her to handle. It was so overwhelming and she couldn’t take it anymore.</p><p>Josie had heard absolutely everything that her sister and Rafael had said, and she was completely and utterly shocked. She thought that Lizzie’s now ex-boyfriend was completely insane for still caring about Landon after what he did and was glad that her twin would no longer see him. The brunette had never liked the guy that much anyway because she thought that Lizzie deserved way better than him. <em>Poor Lizzie…</em> Josie thought and quickly burst into the living room in order to comfort her crying sister.</p><p>“Shhh, it’s going to be alright, Liz… You don’t need that guy,” Josie whispered soothing words into Lizzie’s ear as she wrapped her arms around her body. Afterwards, she brought her to the couch so they could sit down. It’s easier to calm someone when they’re sitting. The blonde then buried her face in her sister’s neck and continued crying her eyes out. “It’ll be okay. Don’t worry. I’m here for you…” Josie continued whispering to her.</p><p>“I don’t understand him, Jo… I really don’t,” Lizzie said with a muffled voice, but the other girl still understood everything.</p><p>“Shh, don’t talk. Just cry, let everything out…” the brunette told her sister softly while moving her hand along the girl’s back in a comforting manner.</p><p>Lizzie eventually calmed down and stopped crying, but she was in a really depressed mood and was just lying down on the couch. Josie was quite worried about her because she had never seen the girl in such a state before. <em>Guess she really loves </em> <em>Rafael</em> <em> a lot…</em></p><p> </p><p><b>From Hope &lt;3: Is everything okay, </b> <b>Jo</b> <b>? :c You haven’t texted me in almost half an hour…</b></p><p> </p><p>Josie suddenly saw her phone light up because she had received a message from Hope. She was acting like such a clingy girlfriend but the brunette didn’t mind that at all. She actually thought that it was super adorable and she didn’t want Hope to stop. Most people usually hate it when their significant other acts so clingy, but Josie wasn’t that type of person. She loved clingy people so much and so, if Hope liked it that way, she could be clingy with her as much as she wanted.</p><p> </p><p><b>To Hope &lt;3: Sorry for not texting you… </b> <b>Liz</b> <b> just broke up with her boyfriend and I was comforting her.</b></p><p> </p><p>Josie replied, spilling out the news to the auburn-haired girl, and immediately after she sent what she wrote, the girl received a message from Hope.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>From Hope &lt;3: Oh my god… That’s so sad. Want me to come over and help you cheer her up? I could be of some help. But if you don’t, it’s totally okay. I understand.</b>
</p><p>
  <b>To Hope &lt;3: That’d be great, Hope. Thanks &lt;3</b>
</p><p>
  <b>From Hope &lt;3: Of course. Lizzie is my friend too. I’d do anything to help her. ^-^</b>
</p><p> </p><p>Josie smiled when she saw how caring Hope was and how much she treasured her friend. <em>God, she has changed so much…</em> she thought as she remembered how horrible the other girl used to be before. <em>I’m so proud of the person she has become… </em></p><p>The only problem was that she had to go through some pretty traumatic things that Josie wished Hope hadn’t experienced. Still, it was meant to happen, so the girl just accepted it without thinking about it any further. She decided that she’d just look at the good side of this. Hope had become this amazing person and Josie couldn’t be happier about that…</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope is super adorable when she acts like a clingy girlfriend! &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3 </p><p>Thank you all for following the story, commenting, etc! I greatly appreciate it and think that you guys are amazing readers! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Hope stood in front of the door to Josie and Lizzie’s apartment with her heart beating fast against her chest. It was all because she knew that she would see a certain </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> very soon, probably in a few seconds if she just rings the doorbell right away. But Hope felt nervous and she still hadn’t found the courage to press the little white button. She didn’t know why she was this way. Josie just made her feel like that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hope’s stomach knotted into a ball at the thought of the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> gazing at her with those mesmerizing eyes of hers. After taking a deep breath and then exhaling it, she finally rang the doorbell a few minutes later. And then she waited… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She wanted to see Josie so bad</span>
  <span>ly</span>
  <span> and was really glad that the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> agreed for her to come. Honestly, she kind of didn’t care all that much that Lizzie and </span>
  <span>Rafael</span>
  <span> had broken up. Hope believed that the blonde should just accept that some people are not meant to be together and that they eventually break up. That’s what she did when her boyfriend passed away. Even though it was tough, she still accepted it. Also, she accepted recently that she and Josie weren’t meant to be together and was okay with just being her friend. Well, not really, but she sucked it up as much as she could because there was nothing she could do. Hope couldn’t risk something bad happening to Josie because of her stupid selfish reasons of wanting to be with her. Anyway, Hope wasn’t big on the whole dramatic break-up thing that most girls usually do after they separate with their partner, so her advice for Lizzie would be to just suck it up and move on. There’s someone better out there for her.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Hey…” Josie said softly as a small smile formed on her face as soon as she opened the door and her eyes met the other girl’s. Hope replied in the same way and then the </span><span>brunette</span><span> stepped aside, so that she could enter the apartment. “Lizzie is asleep, so let’s go in the dining-room.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Hope nodded after hearing what the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> told her and both of them slowly made their way to the place where they won’t disturb </span>
  <span>Lizzie</span>
  <span> with their talking. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>So, what happened? How come they broke up all of a sudden?” Hope asked the other girl and sat down on one of the chairs inside the dining-room. </span></p>
<p>“<span>From what I heard, they ended things because of </span><span>Landon</span><span>,” Josie began explaining everything that happened an hour or so ago and Hope flinched at the mention of the name of her rapist. “</span><span>Rafael</span><span> still wanted to visit him in jail and Lizzie couldn’t accept that, so then she told him to choose between her and that bastard… And well, you can guess which one he picked.” Josie then finished speaking, making Hope’s expression quickly change into a shocked one. She really couldn’t believe how someone could be so stupid and chose a rapist over his loving girlfriend. </span><span>Rafael</span><span>, in her opinion, was probably just as messed up as </span><span>Landon</span><span>. That’s the only explanation she could give herself for what happened.</span></p>
<p>“<span>That’s so insane,” Hope just replied, her eyes still wide. “Well, she’s better off without him. That guy doesn’t deserve her at all,” she then added with a pissed-off voice. </span></p>
<p>“<span>Hey, relax… Don’t get angry,” Josie said with her usual soft voice and placed her hand over Hope’s on the table. “She’ll get through this…”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>The other girl immediately relaxed as soon as she felt the contact. It was so electrifying and sent shivers down her spine.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>So, what do you want to eat? Or you want to drink something?” Josie then asked Hope and went to the fridge, opening it afterwards. The creative director immediately felt herself miss the </span><span>brunette’s</span><span> hand on top of hers. A sigh escaped her mouth and she stood up from her seat so she could go behind Josie and look at the contents of the refrigerator. Honestly, when Hope scanned it, she didn’t like the food that Josie had, because she’s used to eating more expensive cuisine, so she just said, “Mmm, no, don’t worry about it. I don’t really feel like eating or drinking something right now. Maybe later, if we go out to a restaurant or something…” </span></p>
<p>“<span>You’re such a princess, you know that…” Josie told her and chuckled at the </span><span>auburn-haired girl</span><span> next to her who just pouted cutely and crossed her arms.</span></p>
<p>“<span>I’m not a princess… I’m just used to eating different stuff,” Hope replied, making the other girl laugh out loud.</span></p>
<p>“<span>Yeah, expensive stuff, like a princess.” Josie then continued laughing while Hope moved away and turned her back on the </span><span>brunette</span><span>. “Hey, you know what. I think this would be a great nickname for you. I’m going to call you that from now on.”</span></p>
<p>“<span>Hmph…” Hope let out as she still had her back turned and didn’t face Josie, so the girl moved closer to her and wrapped her arms around her body, embracing her from behind. She then rested her head on one of her shoulders and said, “Oh come on, don’t be like that, princess. You’re just too cute and I might hug you to death.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>A sigh escaped Hope’s mouth after Josie said that and she just caved afterwards. The </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> was too sweet for her to handle. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Fine, I will let you call me princess,” the girl then told her and turned around to face Josie, who let her go, unfortunately, and began jumping up and down in excitement that now both of them have nicknames for each other. Hope smiled at the sight of the other girl acting like a cute little kid. It was just so damn adorable…</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Suddenly, the two girls heard the doorbell ring, making them surprised because they weren’t expecting anyone. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Who could that be?</em>
  </span>
  <span> Josie wondered and looked at Hope with a confused look, asking non-verbally if she knew who it could be, but Hope raised her shoulders and shook her head, telling her that she had no idea. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hope opened the door and took a few steps to get out of the dining-room, but unfortunately, her right foot somehow… slid. This made her body fall back, of course, but thankfully, before it could hit the floor, Josie caught her. She once again had reacted rather quickly and saved her princess. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Woah, careful there…” Josie said worriedly to the other girl, “If I wasn’t here, you would’ve hurt yourself...” </span></p>
<p>“<span>Thanks, </span><span>Jo</span><span>…” Hope said quietly and stood up normally on her two feet. She then turned around to look at Josie. Her heart was beating hard against her chest, and that wasn’t just because she almost fell down, but also because the </span><span>brunette’s</span><span> hands were situated firmly on her waist. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>The two girls were looking at each other’s eyes and both felt like it was only them in this world, no one else. They were close, so very damn close, and Josie just wanted so badly to lean in and kiss Hope. But no, she wasn’t going to do it. </span>
  <span>
    <em>I’m not making that same mistake again…</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hope’s eyes trailed down to the other’s lips and admired how amazing they looked. As she was staring at them, she didn’t notice that they were slowly coming closer and closer. The girl was leaning forward without even realizing it. Josie saw that and closed her eyes, Hope did so too, but before their lips could taste each other, the doorbell rang once again, making them both pull away from each other quickly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Josie looked at Hope with a shocked expression because of what had almost just happened, while the other girl had her head down and was staring at the floor due to embarrassment. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>I’m sorry…” Hope apologized to the other girl. “I don’t know what came over me.”</span></p>
<p>“<span>It’s okay. It was probably just in the heat of the moment,” Josie told her and forced herself to smile. “Don’t worry about it.” She knew that Hope didn’t mean to almost kiss her. It could happen to anyone and Josie understood that. The problem was that it hurt so badly. She wanted to be with Hope so much, but she knew that there was no hope for them ever being together. Even so, deep down she still felt like there was. It was just a feeling she had in her gut that Hope saw her as more than a friend but she was just holding back for some reason. Josie knew that that sounded completely absurd but it was just how she felt. </span><span><em>Maybe it’s just wishful thinking from my side that she likes me…</em></span></p>
<p>
  <span>The doorbell then rang yet again and Josie just muttered under her breath, “Ughh, god… Who could it be?” She then quickly got out of the dining-room and went to see who the hell was in front of their apartment’s door. Hope had followed behind her because she was curious as to who it was as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Josie opened the door and was immediately greeted by her close friend Kym’s pissed-off face.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Finally… I thought you were never going to open this damn door,” the girl told her friend angrily and stepped inside the apartment as if it was hers. It wasn’t really a problem because Josie didn’t mind. It was Kym after all… </span></p>
<p>“<span>Sorry, </span><span>Kym</span><span>…” Josie apologized to her friend, her expression a bit sad because she felt bad that she kept her waiting. </span></p>
<p>“<span>Oh come here, you… Don’t cry now,” Kym told her and quickly brought her in for a hug. “Such a crybaby you are…”</span></p>
<p>“<span>Hey</span><span>, I’m not crying!” Josie whined but still returned the girl’s hug. Kym might tease her a lot but the </span><span>brunette</span><span> still loves her. She’s one of her closest friends after all. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>Hope watched both of them embracing each other and immediately felt jealousy boiling up inside her. She didn’t like how close those two were even though they were just friends. Hope’s one of those overprotective jealous types and she wanted Josie all to herself.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>So why haven’t you been calling me, </span><span>Jo</span><span>? It’s been a couple of days and I’ve heard from you only twice…” Kym pulled back a little and scolded her friend. “You used to call me a couple of times a day before.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>When Hope heard that she felt a little bit better but not that much. She disliked the fact that Josie used to call Kym so much. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Ugh, why can’t Josie and I be the only people on this planet?!</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>Kym</span><span>… I’m-“ the </span><span>brunette</span><span> began speaking but her friend cut her off and didn’t let her finish her sentence.</span></p>
<p>“<span>You have replaced me…” Kym said dramatically and buried her hands in her face, pretending to cry. </span></p>
<p>“<span>No, no… I could never!” Josie quickly replied and brought the girl in for a hug once again. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>Hope rolled her eyes at the sight, then just turned around and walked away inside the living-room where Lizzie was still sleeping soundly. She couldn’t look at those two anymore because she felt as if she was going to go crazy and do something she didn’t want to if she were to continue.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>So how’s it going, </span><span>Jo</span><span>? What have you been up to?” Kym asked after she and Josie pulled away from each other. </span></p>
<p>“<span>Ahh… Well, Lizzie and </span><span>Rafael</span><span> broke up…” the </span><span>brunette</span><span> just said and a long sigh escaped her mouth afterwards. “So, I’ve been comforting her today.”</span></p>
<p>“<span>That’s rough man…” Kym just uttered after hearing these news. But still, she couldn’t help but feel a bit happy about it because now she has real chance to be with the person she loves the most. </span><span><em>God, I’m such a terrible person for feeling happy that my friend broke up with her boyfriend…</em></span></p>
<p>“<span>Don’t act like you don’t like it…” Josie then told her while chuckling and hit her on the shoulder playfully. Kym didn’t reply to that but just smiled and pushed her friend towards the living-room.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>
    <em>Wasn’t Hope behind me? Where did she go? </em>
  </span>
  <span>Josie wondered because she found it a bit weird that the </span>
  <span>auburn-haired</span>
  <span> creative director was nowhere in the corridor. But when she opened the door to the living-room she immediately noticed her inside, sitting on an armchair near Lizzie. Hope waved at Kym, who also waved back, but for a short amount of time because her eyes quickly fell on the sleeping figure on the couch.</span>
</p>
<p>“<span>I’m going to go make us some tea,” Josie whispered to Kym, but the girl didn’t even hear her at all. She was too focused on Lizzie.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Josie then went inside the kitchen, leaving the three girls alone in the living- room. Hope noticed how the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> whispered something to Kym and yet again, she felt jealousy boiling up inside her. </span>
  <span>
    <em>What did she tell her? Why her and not me?</em>
  </span>
  <span> Hope wondered and sighed in frustration. Thankfully, that sigh went unnoticed by Kym who was still watching Lizzie sleep like a creepy stalker. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hope turned her attention to the blonde as well and looked at her as she slept. Many thoughts then began running through her mind. She kept thinking about the fact that Lizzie is Josie’s </span>
  <span>sister</span>
  <span> and would always come first before anyone else. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Even though </em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>Josie</em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em> likes me </em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>so much</em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>, she’d still choose </em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>Lizzie </em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>over me in a second. I was so stupid for almost kissing her. That should never have happened. I’m such an idiot… </em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hope was pissed off at herself so much and at the whole situation in general. All she wanted was to be with Josie without everything getting in their way. Yet another sigh then escaped her mouth and she turned her attention to Kym, thinking about how she’s also very important to Josie and how she’s gay and could potentially be with the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> in the future. This pissed her off even more, but she could do nothing about it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kym, on the other hand, just continued staring at Lizzie lovingly without paying attention to anything else. The blonde looked like an angel to her, a beautiful sweet angel. </span>
  <span>
    <em>I have a chance to be with her now… </em>
  </span>
  <span>Kym thought and smiled to herself. </span>
  <span>
    <em>I’ll take things slow for now. She just broke up with her boyfriend. I can’t just tell her how much I love her right away…</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kym had high hopes for her and Lizzie and she couldn’t imagine what she’d do if Lizzie ever pushed her away. To be honest, the blonde is straight so it’s highly possible, but Kym still wanted to try. No one is completely straight. There’s just no way. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Suddenly, as both Kym and Hope were caught up in their own thoughts, they heard a loud sound booming inside the room. They turned their attention to the couch from where it was coming from and saw Lizzie turn around in her sleep. She had snored and it was so funny that Hope placed her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Kym, on the other hand, thought that it was super adorable and fangirled in her mind. </span>
</p>
<p><span>A few minutes later, Josie came back with a </span>tray on top of which were placed three cups of tea. She then put it on the table and sat down next to Hope.</p>
<p>“<span>Let’s wake the sleeping beauty up. She’s been out of it for a long time now. It’s not healthy to sleep so much,” Josie told the other two girls. Hope then nodded and stood up, ready to shake the blonde awake, but before she did it, she stopped in her tracks because Kym’s phone had suddenly began ringing loudly. This actually woke Lizzie up, so Hope went back to her seat without having to do anything. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>Kym took out her mobile and noticed that it was MG who was calling her. She didn’t answer of course, because she didn’t really want to talk to </span>
  <span>him</span>
  <span> right at that moment. MG had been calling her non-stop for the past week every time she’d go out and it was driving the girl crazy. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>I’m sorry about that,” Kym apologized to Lizzie when she brought herself up from the couch and looked at her as if she wanted to kill her right then and there for interrupting her beauty sleep.</span></p>
<p>“<span>How are you feeling, </span><span>Liz</span><span>? Better?” Josie asked her </span><span>sister</span><span> and Lizzie just grunted without saying anything, then she lied down on the couch again and buried her face in her pillow. The </span><span>brunette</span><span> then stood up from her seat and went to Lizzie. Afterwards, she grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up before saying, “Come on, we have guests. It’s impolite to sleep when they’re here.”</span></p>
<p>
  <span>A few minutes later, after much struggle, Lizzie was finally awake and active. The four girls then talked about random things for about an hour. Of course, Lizzie and Josie bickered a bit because the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> had forgotten to make her a cup of tea like she did for the others and herself. It was fine afterwards because she went back to the kitchen and did it. Sadly, Hope’s phone rang some time later. </span>
  <span>Alyssa</span>
  <span> had called her that they needed her at work for something important. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>I have to go. Duty calls unfortunately…” Hope said to everybody and got up from her seat. She really wanted to stay and chat because she was having a </span><span>great time</span><span>, but sadly, she couldn’t. </span></p>
<p>“<span>I’ll come with you if you want. Like, so you wouldn’t drive alone…” Josie then said and stood up as well. Kym shot her a weird look because of the way she was acting, but she decided not to think too much about it. She had to concentrate on Lizzie as much as possible.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>Josie’s excuse to go with Hope was weird, but she just wanted to spend more time with her. </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>You don’t need to do that, </span><span>Jo</span><span>…” the </span><span>auburn-haired</span><span> creative director replied, but Josie insisted that she should go with her. </span></p>
<p>“<span>No, please… I want to. Plus, </span><span>Kym</span><span> will stay here with Lizzie, right </span><span>Kym</span><span>?” Josie then said and threw Kym a pleading look, hoping that she wouldn’t refuse or something. Not that she would. She’d never say no to some alone time with Lizzie of all people.</span></p>
<p>“<span>Alright then, let’s go…” Hope said cheerfully and both she and Josie then bid the two girls goodbye, then left the apartment. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>A few minutes after they were gone, Kym’s phone began ringing again. The girl looked at its screen and sighed once again. </span>
  <span>
    <em>MG…</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Of course, she didn’t answer yet again, making Lizzie ask, “Why didn’t you pick up?” </span>
</p>
<p>“<span>It’s my annoying roommate. </span><span>H</span><span>e’s been calling me every day for the past week at random times. It’s so frustrating…” Kym explained, making Lizzie feel a bit bad for MG that he was being ignored like that.</span></p>
<p>“<span>Maybe he’s just worried about you…” the blonde then told her and afterwards urged Kym to call </span><span>him</span><span>. Eventually, the girl did as Lizzie told her, but wished that she hadn’t, because MG kept her on the phone for about half an hour. After they hung up, Kym sighed in relief that it was finally over. </span><span><em>What’s up with that </em></span><span><em>boy</em></span><span><em> all of a sudden? Something’s definitely going on with </em></span><span><em>him</em></span><span><em>…</em></span></p>
<p>“<span>Thank you by the way, for staying here with me. I appreciate it,” Lizzie expressed her gratitude towards Kym. The girl didn’t reply but just smiled. Afterwards, the two girls continued talking about random things until suddenly, Kym had an amazing idea. </span></p>
<p>“<span>Hey, you know what? Let’s throw a party this week!”</span></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>heheheh, a glimpse of jealous Hope ;) &lt;3 she really wants Josie for herself :D </p>
<p>there will be a party soon and some shit will go down there, guys &lt;3 </p>
<p>Thank you all for reading, commenting, etc! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's party time! Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Really loud music could be heard booming inside Josie and Lizzie’s apartment. The party that Kym had organized was pretty wild and everyone was definitely having a blast. Well, if you don’t count some people who were throwing up or those that were lying all over the place, passed out because of the consumption of way too much alcohol. Of course, Kym wasn’t the only reason that this party was so great. It wasn’t organized just by her, but by her friends as well. Everyone basically pitched in and invited whoever they wanted.</p><p>There were all kinds of people at the apartment, but it was mostly filled with university students because Hope had asked her aunt Freya if she wanted to come and of course, she agreed and brought with her about thirty people more. She was popular among the students. The apartment they were in was pretty large, so it wasn’t a problem at all that a lot of people had come. Actually, if you were to think about it, Josie and Lizzie’s apartment could be compared to Hope’s in terms of size. It was all thanks to the large amount of money that the blonde was making from her job as a photographer.</p><p>“Yeah, baby! Lick it off real good!” some hot chick yelled out as a dude was licking alcohol off her body.</p><p>“Woo! Man, I love this shit!” the guy said as soon as he was done and everyone cheered while holding plastic cups up with their hands.</p><p>As everyone was having fun at the party, there were two individuals sitting on a couch, having a pretty weird conversation. They were yelling so they could hear each other and what they were talking about wasn’t a typical thing you’d discuss at a party.</p><p>“So, Miss Mikaelson then gave me a beautiful hair pin,” Alyssa explained to her new friend Wade about that time when Hope was in a wonderful mood. “Look, I’m even wearing it today! Don’t you think it’s pretty?”</p><p>“Ohhh, it’s gorgeous!” Wade said to the girl that he met only a few hours ago but have gotten really close to. “I wish Miss Saltzman would give me a present too…”</p><p>Even though Lizzie had always treated him with respect, Wade was a bit sad that his boss was so strict with him and scolded him for making even the tiniest mistakes. Still, he loved his employer, but there were many times during which he wished that Lizzie would go easier on him.</p><p>There was silence between the two for a while as they just rocked their heads and tapped their feet to the music. A couple of minutes later, Alyssa looked at Wade and said loudly so he could hear her, “This party is amazing.”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s pretty great. I’ve been to better ones though,” the boy replied, making Alyssa’s eyes widen because she didn’t expect such a reply.</p><p>“You’ve been to other parties?” the girl asked with a shocked tone in her voice.</p><p>“Of course. I’ve been to tons of different ones. Why are you so surprised?” Wade then said.</p><p>Alyssa replied with a sad voice after that, “I just thought that you were like me. I’ve never been to a party before…”</p><p>“What?! This is really your first party?” Wade asked in surprise and then stood up, taking the girl’s hand in the process. “I must give you some tips then!”</p><p>After that, the boy began telling Alyssa all kinds of things that she should and shouldn’t do at a party and the girl was listening to him very carefully. At times she didn’t really understand him because of the loud music, but she tried to hear everything as much as she could. Alyssa was glad that she met this boy because he had become her personal party mentor. Before that she was really worried because she had never been to such a place before and when Hope invited her, she was contemplating about whether or not she should come. At the end of the day, she was glad that she did because she would’ve missed out on such a wonderful experience.</p><p>A couple of meters away from the two, there were many people from the university, Freya’s students, partying hard. The older Mikaelson woman was also there herself, dancing with a hot guy named Jared and one of her closest friends - Keelin. It was so obvious that both of them were so into Freya because they were practically drooling while watching her dance. The woman was unfortunately just playing with them, though. She had them around her little finger so bad and they would definitely do anything she’d tell them at that moment. Jared felt Freya’s hand all over his body, making him extremely turned on. At the same time, that wasn’t all Freya was touching. She was also teasing Keelin by moving her other hand under her shirt and caressing her bare skin.</p><p>“Let’s take this somewhere move private,” Freya whispered a minute later first into Jared’s ear and then into Keelin’s. They both obeyed like little puppies and afterwards she dragged both of them into some vacant room where things would definitely get even more heated.</p><p>In Lizzie’s room though, things were a bit different as there was quite the game going on in there. The door was closed so the music was muffled and they could understand each other perfectly while playing the so-called “Drinking Roulette Game”. The rules to this very entertaining game were quite simple. You’ve got about ten or so players all sitting in a circle around a medium-sized black roulette. There are two types of small glasses – black and red, each with a few numbers written on them and filled with some kind of liquid. Each player takes a round and throws a small ball after spinning the roulette and when it stops at a certain number, they have to drink the whole content in the small glass. The people inside the room were Lizzie, Josie, Kym, Hope, MG and a few students from Freya’s university that they didn’t really know but allowed to play anyway because it would be more fun that way.</p><p>“Yeah! Spin it for me, baby!” one of the boys named Kaleb told Lizzie, urging her to spin the roulette. When she did, Kaleb threw the small ball and waited for the thing to stop spinning so he’d find out which shot he should drink.</p><p>Of course, when Kym heard that the boy had called the blonde “baby” she immediately clenched her fists in anger. <em>Who does that </em> <em>guy</em> <em> think he is?! Calling </em> <em>Liz</em> <em> in that way… </em> <em>H</em> <em>e doesn’t know her at all…</em></p><p>“Drink up, Kaleb…” Lizzie then said as soon as the roulette stopped spinning and the boy had to drink glass number thirty-four. “Let it be Vodka!”</p><p>“I like the way you think, girl!” Kaleb yelled out and then drank the contents of the glass. “I’d definitely go straight for you. Good guess! It really was Vodka.”</p><p>“Wait, you’re gay?” Kym asked him and looked at the guy with a surprised expression.</p><p>“Duh… How did you not figure that out? I’ve been secretly touching Jed’s abs and… other stuff for the past hour,” he replied and started laughing his butt off. The alcohol had taken control of him a long time ago because he had a little too much to drink. After hearing his reply, Kym felt stupid for being jealous of him calling Lizzie “baby”.</p><p>“Was I the only one who saw him touch Jed?” Lizzie asked and raised her hand like an elementary school kid.</p><p>“Maybe you’re the only one who’s sober enough to notice these things,” a girl named Penelope answered and also began laughing. “Or the others are too dumb.”</p><p>“Hey, don’t insult us!” Kym yelled out and threw one of Lizzie’s pillows at the girl. “I’m not dumb nor drunk. I was just concentrated on the game. That’s all…”</p><p>“Let’s continue playing, please… It’s my turn and I’m dying to drink something so hurry it up and spin for me,” Hope stepped into the conversation as well, her voice impatient because she wanted her booze.</p><p>“Alright, alright…” Josie said and rolled her eyes before spinning the roulette. “What a drinking maniac you are, princess…”</p><p>Hope blushed as soon as the brunette called her with that nickname. But most importantly, she did it in front of everyone else. Hope was a little bit embarrassed because she wasn’t used to it and tried avoiding the others’ eyes, so she just stared at the roulette as it was spinning. Little did she know that the others weren’t even paying attention and were in their own little worlds, thinking about something else.</p><p>Unfortunately for Hope, the contents she had to drink as soon as the roulette stopped was just plain juice without any kind of alcohol in it. Groaning in frustration, Hope yelled out, “I’m so done with this game. Let’s make it more interesting…”</p><p>“What do you propose then?” a girl named Jade asked her and raised her eyebrow in curiosity.</p><p>“I don’t know… Let’s change the rules or something,” Hope replied with an annoyed tone in her voice and crossed her arms in front of her chest.</p><p>“Why don’t we like, for example, make each glass have a dare and you have to do something to the person that spins? How does that sound?” MG jumped into the conversation after staying silent all that time.</p><p>“That sounds cool but what kind of dare? And who makes it up?” Lizzie asked and shifted her body so she would be more comfortable.</p><p>“The person on your left says the dare!” MG answered after thinking for a couple of seconds. “Do you all agree with the change of rules?”</p><p>Everyone nodded after hearing MG’s words and then they proceeded to play the game with the new rules.</p><p>“Okay, I wanna spin again and you throw, MG…” Lizzie said and spun the roulette quickly. The others didn’t even have time to protest since the blonde was way too quick.</p><p>“Yes! Okay! I’m so ready for this!” MG yelled out enthusiastically and stretched his arms out in the air. A few seconds later, the ball stopped at number seven which was a glass full of whiskey. Without giving it a second thought, the boy gulped down the liquid. Of course, afterwards he drank a little bit of coke because its taste was a bit too strong for him. “So, what’s my dare?” he then asked impatiently and waited for Jed, who was on his left, to tell him to do something.</p><p>“Mmm, let’s see. What should I make you do, handsome...” the boy said as a smirk formed on his face. While scratching his chin, he began thinking about the perfect dare. Jed wanted it to be something fun, because he disliked boring things, so he tried really hard to come up with something good.</p><p>“Come on, we don’t have all night…” Kaleb yelled out impatiently and hit the thinking boy’s butt. “Hurry it up, idiot…”</p><p>“Alright, alright… Stop rushing me,” Jed then told him and sighed. The guy was a little too aggressive for his liking. A few seconds later, he finally came up with a dare. “Give Lizzie a lap dance!” he said and smirked at MG.</p><p>“What? Me give her a lap dance?” the boy asked with a surprised tone in his voice and pointed at Lizzie. She emphasized on the word “her” because he wasn’t the blonde’s biggest fan, thanks to Kym being in love with her, and couldn’t believe that Jed had actually told him to do that on her. But then again, Jed didn’t really know him so it was understandable…</p><p>A minute or so later, a lot of people felt like they were living their dream because they were watching a hot guy like MG giving Lizzie a freaking lap dance and it was so damn sexy. They was staring at them both and practically drooling.</p><p>Hope wasn’t watching the two because her eyes were fixated on the one and only Josie Saltzman. Honestly, she wanted to look at her forever. Though, she couldn’t help but get a bit jealous at the way the brunette was staring at MG’s body. <em>I wish she would stare at me like that…</em></p><p>Kym, on the other hand, unlike the people who were drooling, felt as if she would explode with anger any second because of everything that was happening before her eyes. MG was dancing in such a hot manner and touching Lizzie in inappropriate places that she felt so jealous. Kym wished that she was the one doing those thing to the girl and not her housemate.</p><p>When MG was done with the lap dance, Lizzie clapped because that was the best one she’d ever had. Well, actually it was her first one but still, she enjoyed it a lot.</p><p>“That was fun, MG. You’re really good at this! You definitely have a future as a male stripper!” the blonde praised the guy and clapped before both of them went back to their places.</p><p>MG just ignored Lizzie’s comment because he didn’t want to show that he liked it. It was Lizzie and he disliked the girl, so yeah, there was no way in hell that he’d show anyone that he liked what the girl said about him. MG was just weird that way…</p><p>“Okay, I’m spinning now…” Kym then said with an unenthusiastic tone in her voice because she was still pissed off due to the lap dance. “Josie, throw…”</p><p>After the ball landed on glass number four, which was filled with just apple juice, Josie was happy because she had had enough alcohol. Even though she only did two or three shots. She wasn’t really a big fan, unlike Hope who loved that damn thing.</p><p>“Dare me, uhhh… whatever your name is!” Josie said to Penelope.</p><p>The girl, of course, feeling a bit offended, reminded her what her name is and then replied, “Well, let’s have some on a girl on girl action here. I dare you to make out with Kym…”</p><p>“Pshh, so easy…” Josie then told her, the alcohol getting to her a little because she had a bit of a low tolerance for it. She then crawled to Kym, cupped her face with both hands, and brought her in for a kiss. Hope gasped in shock at the sight and felt angry that Josie could just kiss someone other than her with so much ease. Of course, she knew that it was because of the alcohol probably, but it still made her feel hurt. And not only that, she was burning with jealousy of course. Especially when the kiss became heated and tongues were involved. In the end, Hope just couldn’t take it and stood up from the floor, then just left without saying anything…</p><p>The girl couldn’t handle watching that sight anymore so she decided to just go and get some fresh air, clear her mind a bit. She wasn’t really drunk because she had high tolerance and was used to consuming large amounts of alcohol. In other words, she was a professional at this and couldn’t get drunk so easily.</p><p>After Josie finished kissing Kym, she felt a little bit guilty for doing it even though Hope wasn’t her girlfriend. She just couldn’t help feeling that way for some reason, as if she was cheating on her or something.</p><p>“Where’s Hope?” she asked the others because she immediately noticed the auburn-haired creative director’s absence.</p><p>“Oh she just got up and left without saying a word. I think she went to the balcony. Not sure…” Lizzie told her sister and Josie immediately thought about how weird Hope’s behavior was. <em>Why would she just leave while I was kissing Kym?</em> She wondered about it and it just felt so strange to her. <em>I should go and ask her what’s wrong…</em></p><p>“I’ll go check on her,” the brunette then told the others and got up, then proceeded with making her way towards the balcony…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sooooooooo, Hosie confrontation next chapter people! &lt;3 Stay tuned! :D</p><p>Thanks for reading! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hope stood alone on the balcony, wind blowing through her hair as she stared at the view outside. It was dark because the time was 2 AM at best, or probably 3 AM. She wasn’t sure but she really didn’t care about that at the moment. She looked at all the visible buildings out in the distance and all the lights that accompanied them. Mystic Falls was beautiful at night. The sky with its millions of stars and the bright big full moon were also keeping Hope company. But unfortunately, she didn’t give a damn at all. She didn’t care how amazing the city looked or how breathtakingly beautiful and romantic the night sky was. All that was on her mind was Josie. She had occupied every single part of it, so Hope couldn’t think of anything else at all.</p><p>Flashes of the brunette’s smile appeared before the girl’s eyes. She could also hear her cute laugh ringing in her ears as if Josie was right there next to her. God, she found everything about her adorable and she wanted to spend every second of her time with the brunette. The feeling was so strong that it was almost unbearable for the girl. Hope thought that it might actually be stronger than how she felt when she was around Roman.</p><p>It was so different with Josie. She felt safe with her, like nothing in this world could ever hurt her. Hope loved spending time with the brunette, when the two of them were just having fun and enjoying each other’s company. She knew that Josie liked her romantically because of the kiss and Hope had finally come to terms with her feelings as well. The only thing that was stopping her, though, was fear. She was afraid that she’d lose Josie if they end up being in a relationship. She was so damn scared of that to the point that it was stopping her from acting on her feelings for the girl.</p><p>It was good that Hope was alone on the balcony because she then began crying. The tears were just falling down her beautiful face without stopping. She didn’t have the power to bring them to a halt, so Hope just allowed them to stream down her red cheeks. The girl just let everything that she’d been holding inside herself out all at once, the desperation, hurt, anxiety, jealousy, everything...</p><p>While she was crying, though, Hope suddenly felt a pair of familiar arms wrap around her body. It was unexpected and even made her jump up a little, but still, she was glad to have them there because she knew perfectly well who they belonged to – the person who had been on her mind all this time, who had made her lift all her barriers up and had captured her heart. <em>Josie…</em></p><p>The brunette was back-hugging her without saying anything at all for reasons Hope didn’t know. Then suddenly, the creative director of Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson turned around and wrapped her arms around the girl as well, embracing her. Afterwards, she buried her face in Josie’s neck and just continued crying her eyes out. The whole scene felt heartbreaking for Josie because she had no idea what had suddenly happened and why Hope was acting this way. She had no idea what had made her so upset, but she continued not saying anything because the other girl obviously just needed to cry everything out. So, Josie just tightened the hug and held Hope even closer to herself, moving her hand over her back and caressing it gently at the same time.</p><p>“Shhh… It’s okay. I’m here,” Josie told her with the softest and most caring voice Hope had ever heard in her life.</p><p>Of course she was there for her. Hope knew that perfectly well. The problem wasn’t that at all. It was the fact that Hope was stopping herself from acting on her feelings. God, she hated how afraid she was of what might happen in the future if she were to be together with Josie. She wished that she didn’t love the girl or that Kym would be with her, or just someone else because Josie deserved to be happy in her opinion. More than anyone else, she deserved it. In Hope’s eyes, the brunette was such a kind-hearted and caring person. How could someone like that not be allowed the best gift in the world - happiness?</p><p>“I’m sorry…” Hope apologized and continued crying against the other girl’s neck. “I’m so sorry, Josie.”</p><p>Josie shushed her without asking any questions. She didn’t know why Hope was saying she was sorry but that didn’t matter at the moment. The only important thing was that the other girl had to calm down, and the only thing she could do in order for that to happen would be to just cry. Eventually, she will stop and relax.</p><p>A few minutes later, that’s exactly what happened, Hope stopped. A long sigh escaped the creative director’s mouth afterwards and she pulled her head away from the other girl’s neck, finally looking at her in the eyes.</p><p>“You feeling better now?” Josie then asked with a look of concern on her face. Hope just nodded in reply without saying anything. After that, she pulled away from Josie and turned around, looking at the view once again. Josie went beside her and stared at the city lights as well. Both stood silent for a couple of more minutes just looking at something but thinking about something else. Josie wanted to know what had happened, so she was the first to break the silence between them by saying, “What happened just now? Why did you apologize? You didn’t do anything to me...”</p><p>She was very confused because she had absolutely no idea what was going on and why Hope was acting this way. Really, she had no clue and everything felt so strange.</p><p>“No, I did do something wrong,” Hope began speaking and Josie could feel the hurt in her voice. “I can’t return your feelings and it’s killing me…”</p><p>“It’s not your fault that you’re not attracted to women, Hope. Don’t beat yourself up for that,” Josie just told her without having any idea about the real reason why the girl couldn’t return her feelings.</p><p>“No, you’re wrong…” Hope turned to look at her and shook her head. “I lied to you that day…”</p><p>“Wait? What?” Josie asked in disbelief since she couldn’t really comprehend what she was hearing right at that moment. “You lied to me? Why did you do that?”</p><p>Her eyes widened in shock because what Hope was saying didn’t make any sense to her. <em>Why would she lie to me about something so important? If she also liked me, why didn’t she just say it? </em></p><p>All of this made Josie a bit angry because she really didn’t like being lied to and she hoped that Hope had a darn good reason for doing so. It hurt her a lot that the girl had rejected her but now it hurt even more when she knew Hope did it on purpose. She could’ve just told her that she liked her as well, could’ve kissed her or something, but she chose not to. Instead, she broke her heart and made them stay only as friends when they could’ve been so much more.</p><p>“I’m so sorry, Jo…” Hope apologized once more as tears began forming in her eyes again. “I was afraid…” <em>Afraid? What could she have been afraid of? </em>Josie wondered and looked at the other girl, the anger from before disappearing just like that and being replaced with concern. <em>Is she scared of being with a girl or just commitment again? Is she not ready to be with anyone because she can’t get over the death of her boyfriend?</em> All kinds of different thoughts ran through the brunette’s mind as soon as she heard Hope’s words. Still, she didn’t say anything and just waited for the other girl to continue speaking. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. When I’m with someone, they get hurt or die. Just… Something bad happens and I don’t want to take that risk, Jo… I do like you so much and I want nothing more than to be with you but I can’t. It’s like I’m bound to stay alone forever…”</p><p>Hope spilled absolutely everything out, all her thoughts and feelings to the other girl who just stood there in complete shock. She couldn’t believe what kind of nonsense the auburn-haired girl was telling her. When she recovered from the shock, Josie looked at Hope with a serious expression on her face and then said, “Listen to me. Nothing’s going to happen to me if we’re together, okay?” She then placed both hands on the other girl’s shoulders and moved her face a bit closer to Hope’s. “Just because it happened before doesn’t mean that it will happen again. It might’ve just been a coincidence…”</p><p>“What if it wasn’t?” Hope continued arguing but Josie was persistent and wasn’t going to give up on her.</p><p>“Hope, look… Just don’t think about what might happen because no one knows when and how they’re going to die. The most important thing is to spend as much time with someone because you never know what might happen in the future and how much time you have with them,” the brunette told her and moved her hands to cup her face. “We must live for the moment, so please, be with me now and stop worrying about what ifs…”</p><p>After saying that Josie just desperately crashed her lips against Hope’s without letting her say anything more. She put all her bottled up emotions, all her feelings into that kiss. Hope placed both hands on Josie’s shoulders, holding on to her with everything she had as she let herself melt into her body. They both wanted this for so long and now that it was finally happening it was magical, breathtaking, and neither of them wanted that moment to ever end. Hope felt herself shaking as Josie kissed her senselessly. At that moment she realized that everything the other girl told her was true. They should live for the moment and not worry about the future, so that’s what she decided to do from then on…</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Kym laughed like a maniac and held onto MG as the boy dragged her inside one of the vacant bedrooms in Josie and Lizzie’s apartment. She was so damn drunk and the boy thought that his housemate really needed to lie down for a while and sleep it off. As they stepped foot inside the room, MG gently placed the girl on the bed.</p><p>“You know who’s very pretty? Huh? Do you know?” Kym asked in a drunk voice as she lied down, chuckling as she spoke.</p><p>“Who?” MG decided to play along with her.</p><p>“Lizzie!” she exclaimed and raised her arms in the air. “She’s so perfect and beautiful, and has blonde hair, and I really really really love her…”</p><p>As soon as MG heard those words the boy felt so very hurt by them. It was really painful to hear the person that you love say that they love another. MG wasn’t really used to it because Kym never really talked that much about her feelings to him. But now that he heard her say these things about Lizzie, it just hurt him so damn much. He wanted Kym to love him, not the blonde, but he couldn’t do anything about it even though he really did try hard. For the past weeks he had been trying to get the girl to notice him, had been giving her some sort of signals, had been clingy and had acted like an annoying boyfriend. But Kym wasn’t affected by that obviously and didn’t take it seriously.</p><p>“I know, I know…” MG just replied and grabbed some blanket that he found lying around and placed it over the girl’s body.</p><p>“Call her here! I want to talk to her…” Kym then demanded and her housemate just sighed.</p><p>“She’s probably busy, Kym…” MG told her but the girl continued demanding that she wanted Lizzie to be called. In the end, MG just couldn’t take it anymore and went outside the room to get the blonde that his housemate so desperately wanted to see.</p><p>A few minutes later, the boy came back with a very confused Lizzie. He then said, “I’ll leave you two alone then…” a bit angrily and went outside the room.</p><p>“Lizzie!” Kym yelled out and pulled herself up from the bed.</p><p>“Hey, Kym… What’s going on? What did you want to talk to me about?” the blonde asked with a bit of a confused tone in her voice and raised an eyebrow. She could tell that Kym was drunk but it was still kind of weird for her.</p><p>“I wanted to tell you something…” the girl began speaking with her drunk voice. “Something very very important…”</p><p>“I’m listening…” Lizzie said and sat on the bed as well, looking at her friend.</p><p>“I… I think you’re very beautiful and cute,” Kym told her, making the blonde blush a bit with her words. “I really really really love you so much, Lizzie. I’ve been in love with you for such a long time but I never told you. Now that you’re single, I think that it’s the perfect time for us to be together!”</p><p>After that the drunk girl just threw her arms around the blonde and began kissing her sloppily. Lizzie’s eyes widened because she didn’t expect any of this at all. The confession really shocked her because it had never crossed her mind that Kym might actually have feelings for her. The kiss was also really unexpected. The only thing Lizzie thought that she could do at that moment was just push the girl away. She didn’t really like girls in that way and if she were to pretend that she also had feelings for Kym, she’d just hurt her that much more. So she just pushed her away and told her straight on, “I’m sorry, Kym… I only see you as a friend unfortunately. I am not attracted to girls in that way, so I hope you understand.”</p><p>“But Lizzie, we’d be so cute together… How can you not see that?” Kym kept insisting and tried to kiss the blonde once again, but Lizzie just stood up from the bed.</p><p>She then angrily told her, “Look, I told you already. I only see you as a friend, so please stop this nonsense.”</p><p>Lizzie then decided to just leave the room because it would be the best thing to do in that situation. She felt like Kym should be left alone. When she opened the door, she noticed that MG was there and was listening in on their conversation. Lizzie didn’t really care about that to be honest, so she just went past the boy without saying anything. The blonde knew that she was acting like a complete bitch at that moment, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t like the way Kym confessed her feelings and how she kept insisting, even though she knew that the girl was really drunk. Plus, Lizzie was straight and didn’t see herself being with a girl at all. She was attracted to men and if she were to engage herself in a relationship again, after a long time because she really loved Rafael and wouldn’t be able to get over him so quickly, it would be with a man, not a woman. Though, she did feel a bit guilty about how she acted towards Kym. <em>I will apologize to her tomorrow…</em></p><p>It took a while for the words Lizzie said to sink into Kym’s mind but when they did, she just began crying her eyes out. She was breaking down because she felt her heart shatter into millions of small pieces. Kym hated that the love of her life rejected her but she couldn’t do anything about it. She couldn’t magically make Lizzie be attracted to women.</p><p>MG walked inside the bedroom once again and just made his way to the bed, then hugged the broken girl tightly, letting her cry on his shoulder.</p><p>“Shh, it’s okay. I’m here for you, Kym…” MG whispered soothing words in her ear in hopes that it would make her feel a bit better.</p><p>While Kym was crying out of pain and desperation, she did something that she never expected to do. She kissed MG…</p><p>The boy’s eyes widened because of shock but still, unlike Lizzie, he returned the kiss. Even though he knew that Kym was doing this only because she was hurt due to what happened with Lizzie, MG didn’t stop and continued kissing the other girl. He knew that he was taking advantage of her now that she was in a vulnerable state, but he couldn’t help it. He had wanted this for so long and nothing in this world could’ve stopped him at that moment.</p><p>“I want you,” Kym whispered against the boy’s lips and moved her hands down MG’s body, touching parts that she had never placed her hands on before.</p><p>“Then you can have me...”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Loud screaming and breaking of alcohol bottles could be heard inside Lizzie and Josie’s apartment about half an hour later. The music had stopped because a certain someone had crashed the party and had broken the stereo.</p><p>“Lizzie, you bitch! Are you happy now? I’m miserable…” a drunk Rafael yelled at the blonde in front of all those people that were at the party. “Landon killed himself in prison. Are you happy now?”</p><p>Lizzie just stared at her ex-boyfriend in shock and couldn’t say anything to him. She was just frozen in her place while Rafael was shouting and throwing things around. He was so broken because the police had called him today to tell him that his friend had committed suicide.</p><p>“Hey, calm down, dude…” some guy said to the screaming man and tried to restrain him, but Rafael punched him hard in the face.</p><p>The guy then began fighting back while other people tried to stop them from throwing punches at each other. It was unsuccessful, though, because both of them managed to land enough hits for their faces to become bloody.</p><p>Lizzie as well as a lot of other people watched in horror as the fight went down. She was shaking because fear and shock struck her at the same time. The words Rafael had said kept on ringing in her ears. <em>Landon</em> <em> is dead? He killed himself?</em></p><p>Lizzie watched her ex-boyfriend’s face covered in blood and couldn’t believe that all of this was actually happening before her eyes, that everything in the end came to this. If someone had told her a few months ago that all these things would happen, she would’ve thought that they were crazy and would’ve said that that would never happen because she and Rafael love each other more than anything else in the entire world. <em>How did things turn out this way?</em> <em>I don’t like the person you’ve become, Rafael…</em></p><p>About ten or so minutes later, Lizzie saw two police officers enter her living room. They showed up at the party out of nowhere and began yelling, “Alright, break it up. The party’s over…”</p><p>This made her sigh in relief because she couldn’t watch Rafael and the other boy fighting anymore. It was too painful and she just couldn’t handle it.</p><p>Behind the two police officers came Lizzie and Josie’s neighbor, a little old grandpa that had been living across the two girls for a long time now. He had called the police because of the loud noises that wouldn’t let him sleep.</p><p>“Teach these kids a lesson, officers!” the old man then said with his grandpa voice, an evil smile quickly forming on his face. “Bring these delinquents to jail for making such a loud noise and not allowing me to sleep! Do you know how hard that is at my age?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hosie is official guysssssss!!!!! &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3 Finally, after such a long time. :D :D Yay! &lt;3 Though, I do have to warn you that there will be one more angst moment before the end of the fic, so be prepared for that. :D Btw I love drunk Kym! &lt;3 :D </p><p>Thank you all for reading! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoyyyyy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">Hope was finally hers…</p>
<p class="western">Josie had been dreaming of this moment for such a long time and when it finally became reality, she couldn't believe it. It felt like a wonderful dream to her, one that she <span>never wanted</span> to wake up from. Her beautiful princess had been in her arms for a couple of hours now <span>since</span> the party was over. They had fallen asleep on the couch together because all the events that had happened tired them out.</p>
<p class="western">It was nine or ten in the morning and Hope was still sleeping soundly. Her face looked so at peace and Josie just couldn't help but stare at her as she slept there in her arms, wondering how such an angel could actually exist. There are so many people in this world and out of all of them, Hope just happened to be with her. It was fate, the way they met and after going through so many struggles, how they finally became close. It felt absolutely amazing to the brunette and she couldn’t be happier to have Hope by her side.</p>
<p class="western">Josie slowly moved her soft fingers over her princess’s face, tracing her goddess-like features. She stared at her lovingly for quite some time and then just somewhere in between all that staring, Josie leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Hope's lips. The auburn-haired creative director stirred a little because the contact woke her up and not long after, she slowly opened her beautiful brown eyes.</p>
<p class="western">"Morning, gorgeous," Josie told her with a low voice and smiled lovingly, making Hope blush and feel the so-called butterflies in her stomach.</p>
<p class="western">"Hey..." she just managed to say back and leaned her head on the other girl's shoulder. She was still sleepy but kept her eyes open.</p>
<p class="western">"How do you feel?" Josie then asked her.</p>
<p class="western">Hope just chuckled and replied, "I should be asking you that. You're not the one who usually drinks."</p>
<p class="western">It was true, Josie wasn't the type of person who would gulp down loads of alcohol like Hope. When she drank, it would either be two or three glasses at some party. It didn't happen often, though, because she rarely went to those kinds of events. Josie wasn't the party type of girl.</p>
<p class="western">Hope, on the other hand, loved alcohol so much that she would drink almost every day. She used to do it a lot more before she and Josie got close, but after that, she started toning it down a bit and would have two glasses every other day. But she was used to the liquid and was fine after the party.</p>
<p class="western">"I feel surprisingly well actually. I guess I didn't drink as much as I thought," Josie told her, the smile never leaving her face.</p>
<p class="western">"I'm glad to hear that, cutie..." Hope then said after she heard the other girl's words and pinched her right cheek slightly with her fingers. She really loved Josie's face, especially her cheeks, because they were so squishy and she would play with them all day if she could. "Where's Lizzie by the way?" Hope asked afterwards and brought her body up, away from Josie's unfortunately, making both of them miss the other's heat.</p>
<p class="western">"She said she was going to the supermarket a few hours ago," the brunette answered her question normally and then came closer to the other girl because she really wanted to have her arms around her again like before. So she wrapped them around Hope's waist and then began planting butterfly kisses all over her jaw and slowly making her way down her neck afterwards.</p>
<p class="western">Hope opened her mouth and closed her eyes because of what the brunette was doing to her. Josie's lips over her neck felt electrifying and she didn't want her to stop. A slight moan left her mouth as the girl's hands went under her shirt and started caressing the bare skin of her back.</p>
<p class="western">Suddenly, as things started getting a bit heated, both girls heard a loud familiar scream coming from one of the bedrooms, making them stop what they were doing immediately and go see what the hell is going on.</p>
<p class="western">As Josie and Hope entered the room, they saw MG throw some pillows across the room, yelling like a maniac.</p>
<p class="western">“How dare you tell me that this was all a mistake? Why the hell did you sleep with me then?” he screamed in anger while Kym just looked shocked.</p>
<p class="western">Both his and Kym’s naked bodies were covered with the sheets, so thankfully, Josie and Hope couldn’t see anything they didn’t want to see. By the look of the situation, though, and what MG was yelling, they figured out what had happened the previous night. It was quite obvious that they had slept together and then Kym ended up regretting it in the morning when she came to her senses.</p>
<p class="western">“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I was doing last night because I was drunk,” the girl tried explaining but MG didn’t want to hear it. Hope and Josie were just watching them without interfering because they didn’t really know what to do. It was between the two and they didn’t want to get in the middle. They had to handle everything themselves and sort their problems.</p>
<p class="western">“So you didn’t like the sex? Is that why you regret it? It might’ve been my first time but was I really that… bad?” MG yelled out in desperation.</p>
<p class="western">The whole scene was really dramatic and Kym just didn’t know what to say to make the boy feel better. She couldn’t say that she didn’t enjoy the sex because it was really quite good even though it was the boy’s first time and she liked it, so she’d be lying if she told him that that was the problem. Kym regretted having sex with MG because she felt bad that her heart wasn’t into it. She still loved Lizzie after all and she felt bad for being with MG without having any romantic feelings for him.</p>
<p class="western">“No, the sex was really good, MG. It really was. It’s just…” Kym tried explaining again but MG continued yelling, interrupting her.</p>
<p class="western">“If it was so good then what’s the damn problem? Why would you regret it?” he screamed and the girl just sighed because she was starting to get annoyed. MG really was kind of annoying at times.</p>
<p class="western">“Because I used you, okay? I used you… I was drunk and heartbroken and you were just… there!” Kym began yelling as well. “I’m sorry that it happened…”</p>
<p class="western">MG looked at his housemate with a hurt expression because what Kym told him really broke his heart. Still, it was partly his fault that he agreed to have sex with Kym. He could’ve pushed her away if he wanted to, but he didn’t. MG then had a kind of mixture of feelings just exploding inside him and he couldn’t take it anymore, so he then just grabbed some of his clothes and went out of the room, passing by Hope and Josie on the way out.</p>
<p class="western">“You’re such an asshole, Kym…” Josie told her and shook her head disapprovingly. She then went to talk to MG while Hope stayed in the bedroom with Kym.</p>
<p class="western">“Listen, don’t beat yourself about this. I’ve had my fair share of drunken sex,” the auburn-haired creative director told the girl and then slowly moved towards the bed, sitting on it next to her afterwards. “I used to hop in bed with a different guy every week because I just felt like it. I was drunk out of my mind all the time and still hurt because of some painful things that happened in the past. I get what you’re going through right now and that you couldn’t help it last night. It wasn’t your fault because this isn’t something you could’ve controlled.”</p>
<p class="western">“I guess…” Kym just said and stared at her hands while gripping the bed sheets tightly. At least Hope understood her unlike Josie and MG.</p>
<p class="western">“I think the best thing you can do right now is just talk with MG after he calms down a bit. You guys have a lot of things to discuss,” Hope just said and the girl nodded.</p>
<p class="western"><em>Yes, that’s what I should do. I should talk to MG and sort everything out. </em>Kym thought and then looked at Hope with a smile now visible on her face before thanking her.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">The next couple of days went perfectly for Hope and Josie. They had started spending a lot of time together, doing a lot of things and enjoying each other’s company. Of course, they haven’t done the deed yet because both of them felt like it was too early and they didn’t want to rush into things. So they just kept everything to the limit of touching and kissing. You could say that they are officially together even though none of them asked the other to be her girlfriend. They just thought of it that way and didn’t have a problem with it.</p>
<p class="western">“What movie do you want to see, babe?” Josie asked her girlfriend who was looking at the posters above them.</p>
<p class="western">“I want something cute,” Hope muttered under her breath and pouted while continuing to stare intently at each of the posters. She was really picky when it came to movies and could wonder for hours on, dividing up the pros and cons of each one until finally coming to a decision.</p>
<p class="western">“How about ‘Zootopia’? The animals look adorable,” Josie suggested.</p>
<p class="western">Hope just looked at her strangely for wanting to see a kids movie and then said, “What? No… Are you insane? We’re not children, Jo.”</p>
<p class="western">“But it’s cute… I thought you wanted to see a cute movie?!” the brunette whined and swung her arms around Hope’s waist.</p>
<p class="western">“Yeah, it’s cute when you’re five years old. We’re in our twenties…” Hope told her and chuckled because her girlfriend was being such a child.</p>
<p class="western">“What’s your definition of cute for a person in their twenties then?” Josie asked her while pouting and squeezed her tighter while looking at her with that adorable smiling face of hers.</p>
<p class="western">“Well, cute is going on dates and doing romantic stuff, and having a great time with the person you love,” Hope explained as she turned around to face her girlfriend.</p>
<p class="western">“So you want a romance movie?” Josie asked and raised both her eyebrows cutely while tilting her head to the left.</p>
<p class="western">“Well, yes… I believe so,” Hope answered and Josie just started laughing.</p>
<p class="western">“Well then why are you thinking about what movie we should see so much? There’s only one romance movie available here right now…” the brunette then said to her girlfriend and continued laughing her butt off. She found it so adorably funny that Hope was wondering so much what they should watch when only one movie fit her criteria for cute.</p>
<p class="western">“Because… I don’t know…” Hope just answered and pouted while crossing her arms in front of her chest.</p>
<p class="western">“God, you’re so adorable…” Josie then told her and gave her a kiss on the cheek without giving a damn that they were in public.</p>
<p class="western">Afterwards, they bought the tickets, Josie paying for them of course because she wanted to treat Hope to something for once and the other girl let her. As they made her way down the hall to the place they should go in order to watch the movie, they surprisingly bumped into MG and Kym there, walking hand in hand.</p>
<p class="western">The two had talked a lot in the past couple of days and in the end Kym decided to try and get over Lizzie by giving MG a shot. Eventually, she might start to develop romantic feelings for the boy so they decided to try, both of them hoping that everything might work out great in the end.</p>
<p class="western">“Hey, lovebirds! You gonna see a movie too?” Kym asked Hope and Josie and both of them nodded while smiling.</p>
<p class="western">“We just saw ‘Zootopia’! It was so cute,” MG told the two and started jumping up and down as he remembered the animals in the movie.</p>
<p class="western">Josie immediately began laughing while Hope facepalmed as soon as she heard what movie the two had seen and sighed. <em>I am surrounded by kids… </em></p>
<p class="western">“Oh by the way, Jo… How’s Lizzie doing?” Kym asked her friend and immediately regretted it because she felt MG tense next to her at the mention of the blonde’s name.</p>
<p class="western">“She… I don’t really know what’s going on with her at the moment,” Josie told her honestly. “Everything was okay after the party but then the other day I caught her coming out of Rafael’s car. He drove her home. I tried asking her what the hell is going on because, as you know, they broke up and then he crashed the party, and now they’re communicating again. Like, what the hell?”</p>
<p class="western">“She told me that they’re just trying to be friends, which is stupid in my opinion, but she can do whatever she wants,” Hope jumped into the conversation.</p>
<p class="western">“Yes, she told me the same thing but I am kind of worried about her,” Josie continued speaking as well. “Still, she seems rather okay. I don’t know. I have no idea what’s going on in her head…”</p>
<p class="western">“I see…” Kym just said with a sad tone in her voice.</p>
<p class="western">“We’ll try talking to her again if she’s home tonight and we’ll tell you. She’s been going out quite a lot recently…” the tall brunette told Kym and sighed.</p>
<p class="western">MG who was still silent and looking at the ground as the other three talked about Lizzie then couldn’t take it anymore and just snapped.</p>
<p class="western">“Can we just go, Kym?” he yelled out angrily and looked at the girl next to him. “I am going to miss my afternoon soap opera.”</p>
<p class="western">He was visibly upset and Kym could definitely tell. I mean, you have to be a complete moron not to see that MG was jealous. The girl felt bad for asking about Lizzie and regretted doing it in front of her boyfriend but it happened and there was nothing she could do about it. She would just apologize to MG later and everything would be fine. At least, that’s what she hoped.</p>
<p class="western">“Okay… Let’s go,” Kym just said and let MG pull her out of the movie theater, both of them bidding farewell to their friends before they left.</p>
<p class="western">Josie and Hope then went inside the room where they would spend the next couple of hours watching a cute romance movie, or not watching, because they might be doing other, more entertaining things…</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hahah :D I kinda love how childish MG is... :D Andd fluffy Hosieeeee! Finally! &lt;3</p>
<p>Thanks for reading! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoyy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">It<span>’s been an hour or so since the movie started and Josie had begun getting a bit bored. She found some of the scenes quite adorable, she wouldn’t lie, but they were too cliché. The guy chasing after the girl in the rain, it’s like in every freaking romance movie. She’s seen stuff like that loads of times and that’s why she decided to just stare at Hope instead of the screen. The </span><span>auburn-haired</span><span> princess was enjoying the movie so much that she was at the edge of her seat, watching it with shining eyes, to which Josie just smiled. She loved how adorable Hope was at that moment. Actually, to her, the girl was adorable all the time, even when she was angry, but she was even more adorable while watching the movie. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie didn’t like this movie </span>
  <span>theater</span>
  <span> they were in at all because there was a forty-centimeter space between her chair and Hope’s. It was usually reserved for popcorn, that they didn’t have by the way, so they used it to just hold hands. Josie wished she could freely hug the other girl throughout the whole movie, but it just couldn’t happen unless Hope sits on her lap or something. That’s when Josie suddenly had an idea how to make their movie date a lot more interesting. She wasn’t going to wait for Hope to come to her, because that wouldn’t happen, but she’d instead go to the girl… </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie then, with a smirk on her face, got off her chair and slowly crawled to Hope’s. She had no idea why she crawled. It just felt like the right thing to do at that time. When she got to Hope’s chair, she couldn’t just stand up and sit in her girlfriend’s lap. That would be super boring and plus, Hope was still watching the movie so she didn’t even notice that Josie had crawled near her. If she just were to stand up and sit, Hope wouldn’t be as surprised. So, the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> decided to gently place one arm under Hope’s legs and the other around her waist in order to lift her up bridal style. Now that’s way more interesting. When she did it, her princess yelped in surprise because she wasn’t expecting it at all, making everyone else inside the movie </span>
  <span>theater</span>
  <span> look at her weirdly. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Josie, what the hell are you doing? Put me down!” Hope whispered, the anger evident in her words. But Josie didn’t do as she was told, not yet. She stood up from the floor, holding Hope in her arms, and then sat on her seat before gently placing the girl on her own lap.</span></p>
<p class="western">“Now this position is a lot better than the previous one,” Josie whispered in her girlfriend’s ear and smiled widely.</p>
<p class="western">“You’re such a dork. People are looking at us weirdly…” Hope pouted as her arms were around the brunette’s neck.</p>
<p class="western">“So? I didn’t see you care when we were cuddling in front of the movie theater’s building an hour or so ago, or yesterday when I kissed you in public…” Josie then told her with a low voice and began planting kisses all over her face.</p>
<p class="western">“<span>I… That was different! I know that everyone knows about our relationship now. But it’s one thing to kiss in public and another to disturb other people while they’re watching a movie…” Hope explained while whispering and then sighed because she felt a bit uncomfortable and as if everyone in the movie </span><span>theater</span><span> had their eyes on them. She still couldn’t get used to everyone knowing about their relationship. The response wasn’t really that bad to be honest and nothing could really happen that could ruin her company, </span><span>Mikaelson</span><span> &amp; </span><span>Mikaelson</span><span>, but still… Hope wasn’t used to all of this yet. </span></p>
<p class="western">“Relax…” Josie just whispered back and slowly began moving her hand over her girlfriend’s back. She loved doing that and by Hope’s reaction, she did so as well.</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Everything was so different with Josie and all the emotions she felt had much more of an impact on her than anything else she’d experienced so far. Even if it was just small touches, kisses, it made her go absolutely crazy. She had never felt that way with </span>
  <span>Roman</span>
  <span> or any other guy she’d been with. Josie drove her insane and Hope loved every single second of it. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“Jo… I’m missing the movie,” Hope managed to say through heavy breathing. Josie was really turning her on and if she didn’t stop doing what she was doing, Hope might just lose control of herself.</p>
<p class="western">“Then watch it… Am I distracting you that much?” Josie whispered into Hope’s ear, a smirk visible on her face.</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>
    <em>God, this girl’s going to be the death of me…</em>
  </span>
  <span> Hope thought and closed her eyes before saying, “Yes, you are…”</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Do you really want me to stop?” Josie asked and moved her hand up along Hope’s back and unhooked her bra. Thank god they were at the back, so not many people could see them. They weren’t paying attention anyway because they were there to watch the movie, unlike the two horny girls. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>No… I don’t… But I thought you wanted to wait?” Hope replied as her heart began pounding even harder against her chest. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>It’s not like we’re going to have sex right now… I’m just having fun teasing you,” Josie said and traced circles over the girl’s back, slowly moving to her front afterwards. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Jo</span><span>…” Hope moaned the other girl’s name quietly as she felt the girl’s fingers so close to her breasts. Josie then brought her face to her girlfriend’s neck and began kissing it, driving Hope even more insane. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>She continued teasing the girl for god knows how long after that, but in the end, everything had to be put to a stop. As usual, it wasn’t because they wanted to, but because of something they had no control over. The movie had ended and the lights had been turned on. Both of them had no idea when or how an hour passed, but it did and it was time for them to exit the movie </span>
  <span>theater</span>
  <span>…</span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>After they exited the movie </span>
  <span>theater</span>
  <span>, the two girls decided to take a walk in the park. It was ten in the evening and the weather was very nice, so why shouldn’t they? Plus, </span>
  <span>for some reason </span>
  <span>there were so many people outside </span>
  <span>that day</span>
  <span>. That meant that it wasn’t really that dangerous, so the two girls weren’t really worried that someone might attack them out of nowhere or something. Also, they were used to it by now anyway. They had gone through so much together that it wasn’t that big a deal. Josie had the police on speed dial and a knife in her pocket at all times.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>After about fifteen minutes of walking and talking about random things, the two decided to sit on a free bench inside the park and continue enjoying each other’s company there. Before they sat down, though, Josie decided to get both of them some ice cream. Of course, she paid for it again and Hope let her. She saw that it made the </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> happy, so why not? There was no way she’d ruin that for Josie. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Hope’s ice cream was vanilla flavored while her girlfriend’s was chocolate and when they sat on the bench, she decided that it was the best time to get back at Josie for teasing her at the movie </span>
  <span>theater</span>
  <span>. Hope had the idea to eat the ice cream very slowly and seductively. It was the perfect way to make Josie all hot and bothered like she had done to her during the movie. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Mmmm, this ice cream is so delicious,” Hope moaned and began licking the delicious thing in the most seductive way the </span><span>tall</span> <span>brunette</span><span> had ever seen. Her eyes widened in shock and she gulped because the scene was turning her on so much and she couldn’t do anything about it. There were people on the bench near them, so she had no choice but to just watch Hope. It was one thing to do stuff in the movie </span><span>theater</span><span> where they were sitting in the back and almost no one could see them and another when there were people only a meter or two away from them. </span></p>
<p class="western">“Hope… What do you think you’re doing right now?” Josie asked her, her voice shaking a little.</p>
<p class="western">“Why teasing you of course… It wasn’t a problem for you before, so why shouldn’t I do it as well?” Hope told her and winked, then continued licking the ice cream while slowly moving her hand over Josie’s thigh.</p>
<p class="western">“I… Ugh… Damn it…” the brunette just muttered under her breath. “What if those people over there see?” Josie then said with a low tone.</p>
<p class="western">Hope just moved her face closer before answering her girlfriend’s question, “I don’t care…” Afterwards she just placed a kiss on her lips, making Josie taste the vanilla ice cream.</p>
<p class="western">When Hope pulled away a few seconds later, Josie was still so dizzy that she accidentally dropped her own ice cream all over herself.</p>
<p class="western">“Damn it…” she cursed and Hope began laughing loudly because it was so damn funny.</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Here, let me help you, cutie…” the teasing girl said seductively and took out a napkin from her purse, then slowly began cleaning the ice cream off of Josie. </span></p>
<p class="western">“Oh my god…” Josie just uttered as she felt Hope’s hand massaging her breasts and afterwards a spot on her thigh that was really close to her most sensitive area.</p>
<p class="western">“Oops… I think there is also some between your legs,” the creative director said and chuckled, then moved her hand between the girl’s legs, but Josie just stopped her and said, “Okay, okay… You can stop now. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have teased you like I did in the movie theater…”</p>
<p class="western">“It’s frustrating, I know…” Hope told her and sighed. “I really want you, Jo… But as you said, we shouldn’t rush. It’s just so hard because I find you so damn attractive and I can’t stop imagining us doing so many things…”</p>
<p class="western">“I know… I feel the same way, but we can handle it. Sex isn’t the most important thing… Our relationship is based on more than just that,” Josie said and smiled at the girl. “I think I’m starting to fall for you so hard, Hope Mikaelson…”</p>
<p class="western">“I think I’m falling for you too, Josie Saltzman…”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>A few weeks after Josie and Hope’s movie date everything was going perfectly for everyone. </span>
  <span>MG</span>
  <span> and Kym were doing great and the girl was kind of starting to develop feelings for her housemate. Lizzie was helping Rafael recover from his best friend’s death by visiting him every day. They were back together and wanted to put all their problems behind them. Plus, Lizzie still loved him and missed him a lot even though they had broken up before in such a shitty way. She knew that he was having a hard time and she just couldn’t bring herself to leave him completely and forget about him. Something kept pulling her towards him and she just couldn’t help it. Josie and Hope were doing amazing as well. They were so happy together and felt as if nothing could go wrong. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“Liz, where do you think I should take Hope tonight for our dinner date?” the brunette asked her sister for advice.</p>
<p class="western">“Why don’t you try that new place that opened up recently? It’s some new restaurant in the center of Mystic Falls. I think it’s called Walden’s or something,” the blonde suggested and the other girl nodded as soon as she heard her words.</p>
<p class="western">“That’s actually not a bad idea,” she said and started looking through the internet for a phone number so she could make reservations.</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>After a few minutes of searching, she managed to get her hands on the phone number and called in order to save a table for two for nine o’clock. Happy when everything was in order, she then texted Hope to tell her about these plans. </span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>
    <b>To My Princess &lt;3: Be ready by eight thirty tonight. I’m gonna come pick you up for our date! :*</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie smiled after sending this text message to her girlfriend. She was so happy that she’d get to take her out to dinner at a restaurant and actually afford to pay for it. The girl had been saving for a few weeks just for this reason. Business was great, she and Hope were doing okay, nothing could go wrong in Josie’s mind. She and her could finally be happy without anything or anyone getting in their way. </span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <b>From My Princess &lt;3: Okay, baby! :* I can’t wait. </b>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Josie received a message from her girlfriend a minute or so after she had sent her hers and smiled widely like an idiot. God, she loved being in a relationship so much. It was amazing…</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hosie are so adorable...  I can't... &lt;3 Things are a little too perfect, though. That's not a good sign. :D A lot of angst is coming up, starting from the next chapter, guys, just a heads up, so be prepared. </p>
<p>Thank you all for reading! &lt;3 You guys are awesome! ^-^</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy and please don't hate me! &lt;3 I'm sorry for the late update, i had to look for a new apartment for rent ;d</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">
  <span>Josie was driving towards Hope’s apartment and couldn’t believe that they were going on one of those dates that you typically see in the movies or read about in books. She felt her heart pounding hard against her chest at the thought of her and Hope at that restaurant, sitting across from each other and having a wonderful conversation while eating their favorite dishes. That was Josie’s dream date. She had always imagined doing that ever since she was a child. Of course, at that time, she was thinking of going with a guy because she still hadn’t figured out that she was attracted to girls. Who would’ve thought that her dream would finally come true, not with a guy, but with a girl?</span>
</p>
<p class="western">Josie stopped her car in front of Hope’s apartment at exactly eight thirty o’clock in the evening, not even a minute late, and texted her to ask if she was ready.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <b>To My Princess &lt;3: Babyyyy~ &lt;3 Are you ready? I’m here and waiting for you… ^-^</b>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">With a smile on her face, Josie then continued staring at her phone and waited for Hope to reply. Of course, as usual, the message from her girlfriend came quickly which made the brunette’s smile even wider.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <b>From My Princess &lt;3: I’m coming down in 5 minutes, cutie. Wait for meee~ :* </b>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Josie couldn’t wait to see her beautiful princess. She was a bit nervous, but that wasn’t a big deal. Hope always had that effect on her. Even though she felt extremely comfortable around her, there were still those butterflies and that feeling as if you’re about to throw up but you actually don’t. That was normal for when you’re in a relationship. Even elderly couples who have been together for god knows how many years still make each other nervous at times.</p>
<p class="western">When Hope walked out of the building, looking gorgeous as ever, with her expensive black dress, long auburn hair and angelic face, Josie held her breath. He girlfriend looked absolutely stunning and she felt like the luckiest person alive at that moment for having such an amazing woman by her side.</p>
<p class="western">“Hey, gorgeous…” Josie said to Hope and winked as soon as the auburn-haired girl got inside her car. The girl immediately felt her face redden because of the way she had been called and looked anywhere but at Josie.</p>
<p class="western">“Hey…” she then managed to say quietly as a smile formed on her beautiful face.</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Awww… You’re so cute when you blush,” Josie told her and gently began caressing her cheek with the back of her fingers.</span></p>
<p class="western">“Shut up!” Hope just said and crossed her arms in front of her chest, slightly embarrassed.</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Oh my god, how can you be so adorable…” Josie chuckled and then turned Hope’s face so she’d look at her and leaned in, giving her a gentle and loving kiss on the lips. Her girlfriend immediately relaxed and started kissing her back. They were going slow and the kiss was full of so much emotion that it felt so breathtaking and magical for both of them. </span></p>
<p class="western">A minute or so later, the two finally pulled away from each other and with a smile on her face, Josie started the car and began driving towards their restaurant. If they had kept it up with the kissing, they would’ve definitely been late and missed their reservation. They didn’t want that now, did they?</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie and Hope were sitting across from each other at a table inside the new restaurant Lizzie had suggested for them to go. The two were eating in silence and just enjoying each other’s company as neither of them wanted to speak. They preferred it that way honestly, just sitting there and eating, occasionally looking at each other and smiling lovingly. It was nice and both of them enjoyed it so much. When each of them finished their meal, they called the waiter over so they could order some desert. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Mmm, what would you like, babe?” Josie asked her girlfriend who just continued staring at the menu and wondering what she should get. </span></p>
<p class="western">The waiter cringed as soon as he heard the loving way that the brunette called Hope since he was homophobic and didn’t approve of these kinds of relationships. He couldn’t say anything, though, because at the end of the day, they were his customers and weren’t worth losing his job over. So, he just manned up and forced himself to smile.</p>
<p class="western">“I’m not sure…” Hope just muttered under her breath and continued looking at the menu. “This apple pie looks delicious, but I really like the chocolate cake as well…”</p>
<p class="western">“<span>They are both great, Miss…” the waiter spoke, the irritation slightly noticeable in the tone of his voice. He wanted them to order what they want already so he could just get out of there and not see them acting all lovey-dovey. It disgusted him seeing two women together. He was also a bit religious and believed that only men and women should be together as it was what God had intended when he created the world.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Both Hope and Josie picked up that the waiter was a bit irritated, so they both looked at him weirdly before the creative director said, “Excuse me… Do you have some sort of problem with us?”</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>No, everything is fine, Miss…” he replied to her question, trying to keep himself calm and collected, not showing any signs that he wasn’t in fact okay, and then forced himself to smile again.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Are you sure? Because it seems like something is wrong… If you have a problem with us just say so!” Hope told him again with her cold bitchy tone. She might’ve changed a lot, but she was still a bitch when she wanted to be or when someone pissed her off a lot. “I picked up that something wasn’t right the moment we walked inside the restaurant hand in hand and then when you had to take our first order. Come on, just tell us what is it that you find so irritating!”</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Hope was really starting to get on the waiter’s nerves and even though he was trying hard not to spill out everything that was troubling him, in the end he just couldn’t keep it in anymore. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“I don’t approve of the fact that I am forced to provide service for two lesbians!” he said directly to Hope with a slightly angry tone. “I think it is a sin because it goes against God’s wishes.”</p>
<p class="western">“So you think that just because we are together in a relationship that goes against your God, then we’re not allowed to dine in a restaurant? Are we not human like everyone else?” Hope yelled at the guy and stood up so she could be face to face with him. She was visibly angry and Josie started getting worried, so she tried to make her relax.</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Hope</span><span>, calm down, please…” the </span><span>brunette</span><span> told her girlfriend and stood up as well so she could put her hand on her shoulder. “I know that what he is saying is wrong but nothing good comes out of conflict. Let’s just pay and leave.”</span></p>
<p class="western">Hope threw Josie a surprised look because she didn’t expect her to react this way to what was happening. She remembered how the girl had argued with her when they first met a long time ago at her clothing store, so this behavior she was showing now wasn’t what she had expected. It just goes to show how mature Josie had become, so much that she preferred to walk away rather than fight back. That was the right way to handle a situation, but Hope thought of it as completely stupid and ridiculous.</p>
<p class="western">“No, I want to call the manager!” the auburn-haired creative director told her girlfriend angrily and Josie just let out a long sigh. There was no use in arguing with Hope because she would lose.</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>At the mention of the word manager, the waiter stiffened and began getting a bit worried. He couldn’t afford to lose this job, so he had to do everything in his power to stop Hope from doing it.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“There’s no need for that, please…” he pleaded, his voice shaky as he spoke to the girl. “Please, I can’t lose my job. I’m sorry for losing my temper.”</p>
<p class="western">“That’s not good enough. Apologize to both of us for showing us disrespect,” Hope told him with her cold bossy tone, making the man grip the tray in his hands harder, squeezing it so much that as a result his knuckles turned white.</p>
<p class="western">In the end, he mustered up everything he had in himself to just apologize. Even if he didn’t approve of their relationship as it was against God’s wishes, his job was very important and he couldn’t lose it. Clenching his teeth, he just said to both of them, “I apologize to both of you for showing such disrespect. It wasn’t right of me.”</p>
<p class="western">“<span>That’s better…” Hope just muttered under her breath and she then grabbed her bag. After that, she pulled out some cash and threw it on the table. It was more than enough to cover the bill but she didn’t care. She also didn’t give a damn that Josie had said that she would pay before they got to the restaurant. Hope just threw the money on the table, took her coat and walked out of the restaurant without saying anything to the waiter or her girlfriend. </span></p>
<p class="western">“Hope, wait…” Josie called out from behind her and caught up to her after she left the restaurant. They were at the sidewalk when the tall brunette grabbed her by the arm and turned her around.</p>
<p class="western">“<span>What the hell was that, Josie? Why didn’t you say anything to defend us?” Hope asked the girl who was still gripping her arm. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>It’s better to just let it be and walk away. I didn’t want any conflicts…” Josie answered, making the other girl laugh in disbelief.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Oh that’s rich. Remember when we first met and you threw a fit at my clothing store because my dress was too expensive? How was that different than this? And if I might add, what happened a few minutes ago with the waiter was far worse than a price of a dress…” Hope felt tears starting to form in her eyes as she and Josie were having an argument in public. </span></p>
<p class="western">“I’m not the same person I used to be, Hope. It’s easy to fight back and cause someone pain, but it’s harder to just walk away, to avoid conflict. Isn’t the second one better? Also, you should know what change means better than anyone. Remember how you used to act? Remember what kind of heartless bitch you used to be?” Josie fired back, making Hope even angrier after hearing her words.</p>
<p class="western">“<span>I’m still a bitch if you haven’t noticed. I just don’t act that way towards you,” the </span><span>auburn-haired girl</span><span> gave her the stupidest reply, making Josie not able to take this anymore.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I can’t deal with you right now. I’m sorry…” the girl just replied and began walking away from Hope, trying to get to the other side of the street where her car was parked.</span></p>
<p class="western">“Don’t you walk away from me. We’re not finished yet…” Hope yelled out and Josie stopped in her tracks in the middle of the street, then said, “Just stop it! I don’t want to fight with you, okay?”</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Hope opened her mouth to fire back a reply, but before she could, she heard a loud honk coming from a huge truck that was driving towards Josie. The driver tried to inform the girl to get out of his way, tried to hit the breaks and stop the vehicle, but it was no use. Tragedy had struck faster than lightning. Everything happened so fast that neither Josie nor Hope had time to react, to do something so that the accident could be avoided. The </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> was blinded by the lights from the car. At such extreme situations, it’s like people stop reacting at all. She couldn’t move her body and didn’t know what to do so she just stood there in the middle of the street as the truck hit her, sending her flying a few meters away. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Hope stared in horror as she saw the whole scene happen before her eyes. </span>
  <span>
    <em>No, no, no… This isn’t happening. Not again. No… </em>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“No! Josie!” Hope screamed and a few seconds later ran to her girlfriend. “Josie, stay with me, please. You’re going to be fine…”</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>The </span>
  <span>brunette</span>
  <span> was unconscious and there was a small trail of blood where her body had hit the ground and slid all over it. Hope immediately dialed </span>
  <span>911</span>
  <span> and called for an ambulance. The driver had also got out of his truck to see how Josie was. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>I’m so sorry. I tried to stop. I honked for her to get out of the way. I didn’t hit her on purpose, you have to understand…” he told Hope, but she didn’t listen to him at all. She just started crying and staring at Josie’s body, blaming herself for everything.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>
    <em>If I hadn’t had that fight with her, if I had just kept my stupid mouth shut. This is exactly what happened with </em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>Roman</em>
  </span>
  <span>
    <em>. Damn it… I shouldn’t have agreed to be with her. This is God’s punishment… I shouldn’t be with anyone… </em>
  </span>
  <span>Hope thought and continued sobbing. She then remembered her fight with </span>
  <span>Roman</span>
  <span> when they left Nicole’s wedding. She spent her last moments with him arguing because he didn’t want them to get married and she did. That was something she’d regret for the rest of her life… </span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <em>Flashback</em>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“<em>Why don’t you want to get married? We’d be so happy together. Look at Nicole…” Hope said to Roman as he was driving the car. </em></p>
<p class="western">“<em>Hope, we’re too young. We have our whole lives ahead of us,” he told her and sighed in frustration because she was getting on his nerves. She was such a stubborn woman and always wanted everything to go the way she wanted it. “I’m not ready for such a huge commitment…”</em></p>
<p class="western">“<span><em>So you say you love me but you don’t want to marry me. How can you lie to me then? That’s not love… You’re just playing with me. I don’t want to be with someone who doesn’t want a future with me. People show their love by getting married!” Hope continued arguing with Roman, making him even more irritated than he already was. “I am telling you, Roman, this is the best decision for us to be happy. Getting married is the most wonderful idea.” </em></span></p>
<p class="western">“<em>Would you just shut up!” Roman yelled, furious because his girlfriend’s behavior and looked at her, taking his eyes off the road for just a second.</em></p>
<p class="western">
  <em>Then tragedy happened…</em>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <em>End of Flashback</em>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>It was happening all over again. History was repeating itself and Hope was so afraid that she would lose Josie the way she lost Roman and her parents. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Why do all my loved ones have to die? Why are you punishing me God? Am I not meant to be happy with anyone?</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western">A few minutes later, the ambulance arrived and the paramedics checked Josie’s condition. She was in pretty bad shape, obviously, because she had just been hit by a truck. They immediately took action and started doing their job in order to keep her alive long enough until they could take her to the hospital where specialists could take over from there.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>During the whole ride to the hospital, Hope had been looking at Josie and praying to God not to let her die. She couldn’t bear to lose her as well. She just couldn’t… </span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ooops... poor Josie. :/</p>
<p>Stay tuned to find out what happens next. &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Don't hate me but this chapter is very depressing. D: </p>
<p>Still... enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">It has only been two hours since Josie was brought into the emergency room at the hospital and it felt as if these were the longest two hours Hope had spent in her entire life. As she was sitting in the waiting room on a chair, waiting for the doctor to show up and tell her something about her girlfriend’s condition, she had her face buried in her hands and was crying. Honestly, she was so tired of tears falling from her eyes but she just couldn’t keep her emotions in. Josie had been hit by a truck in front of her very eyes and there is probably a huge possibility that she’d die. Hell, Hope didn’t really believe that she could even survive because she had this insane idea that fate and God had something to do with this and wouldn’t allow her to be happy. Still, at the back of her mind, she prayed that everything would be fine and she was kind of optimistic, even if it was just a little.</p>
<p class="western">“This is all my fault,” Hope muttered, blaming herself once again for the tragedy. Millions of thoughts were running through her mind at that moment, images of Josie and her were flashing before her eyes.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“<em>Want me to make some pancakes, princess?”</em></p>
<p class="western">“<em>God, you’re so gorgeous, Hope…”</em></p>
<p class="western">“<em>I really really like you a lot!”</em></p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Hope remembered random things that Josie had told her since they got together. All of this made her heart ache even more.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“<em>I wish we could spend eternity together! We could, like, have two kids and live in this really cool house with a pool and a dog!” Josie said and smiled like a dork while Hope giggled.</em></p>
<p class="western">“<em>What if I don’t want a house but an apartment? And a cat rather than a dog?” the creative director told her girlfriend teasingly. </em></p>
<p class="western">“<em>Okay, then we’ll get both. Nothing wrong with having an apartment in the big city and a house in the countryside! We can have the cat in the apartment and the dog at the house. Problem solved!” Josie’s smile widened even more as Hope began laughing. </em></p>
<p class="western">“<em>You’re amazing, Jo…”</em></p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">She remembered discussing her future with Josie, a dopey grin on the tall brunette’s face. Even though they’d been together for not that long, they still fantasized about being together for a long time. They were just playing around and it was pretty fun. But what if Josie dies and they never get to experience that? Hope would be so broken…</p>
<p class="western">The auburn-haired girl then imagined what it would be like to live with Josie in the future. It would feel so wonderful, as if her life’s purpose had finally been fulfilled.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“<em>Honey, I’m home…” Hope said her usual line whenever she got home from work. Immediately, Josie greeted her and gave her a kiss on the lips, welcoming her. Soon after, two small human beings came running and screaming in joy towards her. Her children… They hugged her and Hope couldn’t help but hold back her tears. She was so happy to have such a wonderful wife, beautiful children and a loving home. </em></p>
<p class="western">“<em>Ohhh careful there, kids. Did you girls miss mommy that much?” Hope asked them when they threw themselves at her, hugging the life out of the poor woman. </em></p>
<p class="western">“<em>Very much!” both children replied in unison and hugged their mom harder, making Hope giggle. </em></p>
<p class="western">“<em>How was work, babe?” Josie, who was also giggling because of the sight, asked her and Hope then just replied with, “Exhausting… I need to lie down.”</em></p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Hope could see everything clear in her mind, her fantasy of her and Josie’s life together. It was her dream, to just be… happy.</p>
<p class="western">“Hope, are you alright? What the hell happened? How did Josie get hit by a damn truck?” Lizzie’s voice snapped Hope out of her thoughts a few seconds later. She looked up and saw the blonde approaching her with Rafael, MG and Kym trailing behind her.</p>
<p class="western">“We… we were arguing on the street. Then it just… hit her. W-we couldn’t react in time…” Hope managed to say while crying, her whole body shaking as she tried to get the words out of her mouth. As soon as she told them what happened, the images of Josie getting hit by the truck flashed before her eyes once again and she buried her face in her hands in frustration.</p>
<p class="western">“Oh my god…” Lizzie replied, stunned because of what she was hearing. Her sister was lying there in the emergency room, fighting for her life. She felt her body shaking not only because of fear but anger as well since it was so unfair.<em> Why Josie?</em> <em>Of all people, why her?</em></p>
<p class="western">Lizzie thought that her sister was the most generous and kind-hearted person in the whole damn world and to have this happen to her made her so angry. Sure, she didn’t really know the whole story. Hope just told her they were arguing, which was normal, couples argue all the time. At least, that was what she and Rafael did before. They were on the street, okay, they didn’t pay attention of their surrounding, she understood, but the guy that was driving the truck could’ve probably stopped in Lizzie’s opinion. She blamed him for being careless, not her two closest people, even though in reality, everyone was to be blamed in that situation.</p>
<p class="western">Everybody else’s eyes were open wide in shock as well. Their minds still couldn’t comprehend where they were or what was happening, especially Kym and MG who were absolutely devastated. The thought of losing Josie felt like the end of the world to them because the girl was a very important person in their lives and they didn’t know how they would recover if she happens to be gone.</p>
<p class="western">Half an hour later, one of the doctors came out of the emergency room and immediately, everybody turned their attention towards him, waiting to hear some news about Josie’s condition.</p>
<p class="western">“We managed to stabilize the patient,” the man told them and everyone sighed in relief. Sadly, they began worrying again a few seconds later when they heard what else he said. “…but unfortunately, she’s still not out of the woods yet. She got hit pretty badly and we need to perform a surgery…”</p>
<p class="western">“She’s going to be okay after that, right?” Hope asked with a worried tone and the doctor just sighed.</p>
<p class="western">“It’s uncertain. There is unfortunately a small chance that she’d survive the operation…” he then replied, making the auburn-haired girl break down once again. Everyone else tried to hold back their tears as well, but they couldn’t, so they also began crying. It was the worst with Hope and Lizzie, though. Hope is Josie’s girlfriend after all and Lizzie is her sister, and plus, Hope was still having trouble controlling her emotions after everything that had happened to her.</p>
<p class="western">A few minutes later, the doctor disappeared back into the emergency room because Josie’s operation was due to start in fifteen minutes. Hope and her friends went back to waiting because what else could they do? All of them felt so helpless, especially the auburn-haired girl who most of all wanted to do something…</p>
<p class="western">Hope felt so messed up because of everything that was happening that she couldn’t think straight at all. All kinds of thoughts still continued running through her head and she didn’t stop blaming herself for everything.<em> God is punishing me, so why does Josie have to suffer? Why the hell does she have to go through all of this? Why couldn’t it have happened to me?</em></p>
<p class="western">Hope was thinking of so many things that in the end she felt as if her brain would explode in her head. She couldn’t handle it anymore so she just stood up and began running towards the direction of the exit. The auburn-haired girl didn’t care that the others were yelling behind her in confusion, trying to figure out where she was going at such a time. She couldn’t look back at all and just wanted to get out of that hospital.</p>
<p class="western">“I’m going to follow her. You guys stay here in case the doctor comes back,” Lizzie told the others and then immediately went after Hope. She tried so hard to not lose her because if she were to, god knows what might happen.</p>
<p class="western">Hope just ran out of the hospital and went into some random direction. She needed to get out of that place so bad.<em> Josie’s probably already dead. She won’t survive. There’s no way fate will let her…</em> Hope thought and continued going to nowhere in particular. For some reason, now she was dead set on the fact that Josie would definitely die. <em> There’s no reason for me to stay at that hospital. I don’t want to hear that she’s dead. I can’t handle it. No! I can’t …</em></p>
<p class="western">After a couple of minutes, Hope decided to just walk freely on the street, not caring whether there were cars or other vehicles coming. She actually preferred to die at that moment because what was the point of living if Josie wasn’t there with her? It felt better to her to just end her life than live a miserable one without her soul mate.</p>
<p class="western">“Get off the street, bitch! Are you insane?” some guy yelled from his car and drove past Hope. Other people were honking like crazy, but the girl wouldn’t move.</p>
<p class="western">“Run me over! Come on!” the auburn-haired girl screamed in the middle of the street, but somehow no vehicle managed to hit her.</p>
<p class="western">Hope cursed under her breath when no one was hitting her. Josie had been run over without actually moving in front of a vehicle on her own. She was just standing there and bam, she was hit. Hope wondered why that wasn’t happening to her at that moment.</p>
<p class="western">“Hope, are you insane? What the hell are you doing?” Lizzie came a few seconds later and pulled Hope away from the dangerous place and onto the sidewalk where she would be safe. Thank god the street Hope picked to walk on wasn’t such a busy one and it was kind of late at night, so there weren’t many cars that could actually hit her and thank god that the drivers managed to miss her. Lizzie couldn’t handle losing Hope and Josie at the same time. It was hard with just her sister, but if she were to lose both of them, she’d be even more devastated.</p>
<p class="western">“I want to die Lizzie. Josie’s probably already gone and she’s not coming back…” Hope told her friend, tears falling from her eyes as she spoke. God, she was so messed up at the moment that Lizzie felt her heart breaking seeing her in that condition. She was taking this so hard, even harder than when she lost Roman and her parents.</p>
<p class="western">“Do you hear yourself right now? Josie’s not dead yet and there’s a chance she could survive,” Lizzie yelled at the auburn-haired girl, angry because of what she was hearing. “You’re just giving up like that? You want to die? That’s so pathetic, Hope…”</p>
<p class="western">“Fate doesn’t want us to be together. All of this is my fault. The people close to me die because I am meant to be alone. Everything is just predetermined…” Hope told her friend and Lizzie then slapped her right across the face to bring some sense into her.</p>
<p class="western">“You’re an idiot for thinking like that…” the blonde then said angrily while Hope held her palm firm against her own now completely red cheek. Her eyes were wide because of shock. What was she doing right now? How did she let herself become so messed up? Why did she let herself lose control of her emotions like that? “Even if Josie doesn’t… survive, you have to be there in the hospital. You’re her girlfriend for god’s sake, you just have to. And what if you had killed yourself and then Josie survives? Do you want her to go through losing you?”</p>
<p class="western">Hope just shook her head and began crying again. “I’m so sorry…” she then apologized and Lizzie moved closer to give her a hug. “I don’t know what came over me.”</p>
<p class="western">“Shhh… Relax,” the blonde whispered in Hope’s ear and just continued hugging her. “Let’s just go back to the hospital. The others are waiting for us and also… Josie needs us to be there.”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope is so messed up, guys... But don't worry, you'll get your happy ending in the next chapter. The next one is kinda the last one and it will include like an epilogue thing.. and then chapter 28 will be like 5-10 years later or something like that, just so you know. :D </p>
<p>Thank you for reading! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">
  <span>When Hope and Lizzie came back to the hospital, the others that were waiting for them didn’t ask any questions and just continued standing there and waiting in silence, each worried about Josie’s fate. Kym and MG had their arms wrapped around each other’s bodies, praying for their friend to be alright. Kym’s head was resting on her boyfriend’s shoulder and she was inhaling the scent of his cologne in order to calm herself down at least a little. Rafael’s legs were shaking nervously and the moment Lizzie went next to him, he embraced her. He and Josie might have not got along that well, but he still cared for her and didn’t want anything bad to happen. Plus, she was his girlfriend’s sister. Rafael knew that Lizzie would be broken if she’d lose her. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>As everyone continued standing there in silence with doctors and nurses passing around them because they had patients to take care for, they were suddenly startled by Hope’s phone which had begun ringing. With shaking hands, she began looking for it inside her designer bag. Sadly, though, she was too out of it and she dropped everything she was holding on the floor in just a matter of seconds, the entire content sprawling all around everyone’s feet. The whole scene was heartbreaking, especially for Lizzie. Seeing her friend in that state made her even sadder than she already was.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Damn it!” Hope cursed under her breath and she bent down to pick all of it up. The others did the same and began helping her, grabbing whatever they could and putting it inside the girl’s bag. When the auburn-haired girl finally had her phone in her hand, she noticed that her aunt Freya was calling her. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Which hospital are you at?” the older woman asked Hope because she had forgotten to specify where exactly they were. It happened because she was in a hurry at the time. She had told Lizzie first because she’s Josie’s sister of course and there were no mistakes, but when she told her aunt Freya, she unfortunately forgot to put in the little detail of which hospital they’re at. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Uhhhh…” Hope began wondering what the name was, but it just slipped her mind. “What hospital is this?” she then asked the others and Lizzie answered, “Mystic Falls Medical Center.”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Oh, right…” the auburn-haired girl then said and nodded her head before telling Freya the name. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I’m on my way. How’s Josie’s condition?” Freya asked from the other line and Hope just replied with a shaking voice, “I don’t know. We’re still waiting for the doctor. He said that there’s a small chance she’d survive, aunt Freya…” </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Hope then began crying and her aunt felt her heart breaking as she heard the girl’s sobbing. She herself then had tears streaming down her face as well because she grew to like Josie a lot ever since she met her. Freya could see how happy the brunette made Hope and she didn’t know if her niece could handle losing another person she loves…</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>We need to be positive and not lose hope...” Freya said through tears, trying to calm herself and her niece. She wanted so hard to believe that Josie would be fine. “Even if there is a small chance, we must trust that she will be okay.”</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Hope didn’t say anything after that and just closed her eyes, trying to stop her tears from falling. She still had her phone pressed against her ear and she could hear Freya telling her that they should just believe, that there was nothing else they could do in this situation but pray. Hope wanted so hard to do that, but something in the back of her mind told her that it was pointless…</span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>A few hours had passed and the doctor still hadn’t showed up to tell them details of Josie’s condition. Freya arrived half an hour after her phone conversation with her niece and she immediately gave Hope a hug when she saw her. They’re family so they should support each other in times of need. Freya regretted not trying hard enough to help Hope get through her pain when her parents and Roman passed away. She wasn’t going to do that now. If Josie happens to die, she would be there for her niece no matter what, helping her every step of the way so she would recover.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>God, what’s taking that damn doctor so long…” Hope yelled out in frustration suddenly, startling everyone around her. She was getting so annoyed because she couldn’t take this damn waiting any longer.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Relax… He’ll show up eventually,” Lizzie told her friend with a sad tone in her voice. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>You know, when Josie came to our apartment this afternoon, she was so excited for your date…” Kym began speaking to Hope suddenly. “Ever since she met you, Hope, she’s been so happy. I even think it’s the happiest I’ve ever seen her to be honest.”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>She kept running around the room in excitement like a little kid,” MG jumped into the conversation and laughed a little. Everyone else did that as well and it was the first time the mood was lightened up even a little bit since everyone arrived at the hospital. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Hope’s smile stood for a couple of minutes after that as she kept thinking of her and Josie again. She unlocked her mobile phone and opened her message box in order to see the dozens of texts Josie and her had exchanged. </span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>
    <b>From my Cutie &lt;3: Babyyyy~ &lt;3 Are you ready? I’m here and waiting for you… ^-^</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Hope’s smile widened when she saw the last one Josie had sent to her when she was waiting for her in front of her apartment hours ago. But it soon fell when the reality of the situation she was in right now hit her once again. Her girlfriend could die, for real. She’d never get to experience everything she ever wanted with her. God, she didn’t even get to say goodbye. Her last memory of Josie would be of both of them fighting. Hope’s heart hurt at the thought of that and she felt tears forming in her eyes once again. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Suddenly a few minutes later, everyone’s eyes widened and their heartbeats increased when they heard and saw the door to the emergency room open. The doctor finally came out and everyone hurried to get closer to him to hear what he had to say. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Good news, everyone! The surgery was successful. We managed to save her,” the man told them happily. “It’s just going to take some time for her to wake up. It could be days or weeks, months even. We can’t tell unfortunately, but at least she’s alive.”</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Hope and the others were immediately relieved to hear the news that Josie will live. They didn’t care that it would take time for her to wake up, because the only important thing was that she’s alive. That’s all that mattered. Hope was beyond happy to hear that her girlfriend’s alright after everything, but she was also surprised because she did actually believe that she would die. She thought that fate would separate them and that she didn’t deserve to have a happy ending. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>
    <em>Josie’s alive. This… This is a sign. If she’s alive then fate is telling me that she’s the one, that we must be together forever. </em>
  </span>
  <span>Hope thought as tears of joy began falling down her cheeks this time.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>From then on, she was dead set on the idea that she and Josie were actual soul mates and that they would be together until the end of their days, which will be a very long time hopefully. Fate and God had spoken to her…</span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>A few weeks had passed since the day Josie had the surgery and she still hadn’t woken up. Hope would visit her and talk to her at the hospital every chance she got. If it was up to her, she’d spend every waking moment there, by the girl’s side, hoping and praying for her to wake up. Unfortunately though, she had the company to take care of because it was that time of the year when she had to attract investors. In order for her to do that, she had to present them with new designs and ideas. That’s why she couldn’t leave Mikaelson &amp; Mikaelson in the hands of her employees. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Jo, remember that time we talked about our future?” Hope said while sitting beside Josie’s hospital bed. “You wanted us to live in a house with a pool and a dog. Do you know how adorable you were when you told me that?” The auburn-haired girl chuckled at the memory of their talk while looking at Josie’s face. “I really want that to happen, so you better wake up, babe. The sooner you do, the faster we can start working on that, okay?” After saying that, Hope put her hand over Josie’s and squeezed gently. She then continued talking to her because there was nothing else she could do. “I want you to know that you mean the world to me. You’re the most important person in my life and… I love you so damn much, you dork…” Tears then started streaming down Hope’s face and falling over the sheets that were covering half of Josie’s body. For the past weeks, each day, Hope just wished more and more for her girlfriend to wake up. She missed her so much and wanted nothing more than for Josie to just open her eyes and show her that dorky smile of hers. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Suddenly, Hope felt something move beneath her hand and her eyes widened immediately. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Josie moved. She’s waking up.</em>
  </span>
  <span> These were the first thoughts that ran through the auburn-haired girl’s mind and her hear began beating faster against her chest. She then removed her hand from on top of her girlfriend’s and noticed her moving her fingers. Hope’s eyes darted from there to Josie’s face, waiting for the girl to open her beautiful brown orbs and look at her. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Come on, babe. You can do it.</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Hope’s heartbeat kept increasing with each passing second as she waited for her lovely girlfriend to look at her. She had been longing for that for so long that she felt like she would die if it didn’t happen. Hope wanted it so bad and eventually, it became reality. Josie opened her eyes and looked into her girlfriend’s. It took some time for the brunette’s vision to stop being blurry, but when it did, she felt as if she had died and gone to Heaven. Hope looked like an angel sent from there to guide her on her passage from this life to the next.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Josie... Hey!” Hope happily exclaimed and just continued looking at the girl. Josie smiled back at her, now fully registering that this was indeed real and she hadn’t died because she could actually hear her girlfriend’s lovely voice. “I missed you.”</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>The first words that came out of Josie’s mouth, though, made Hope’s whole body stiffen in shock. “Who are you?” her girlfriend had asked as if this was the first time they were meeting. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>You… You don’t remember me?” Hope asked with a shaking voice, her eyes wide and she moved back a little in shock. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Then suddenly Josie burst into laughter because her girlfriend had fallen for her silly prank. Hope looked at her with a confused expression, trying to figure out what was actually happening at that moment. When Josie’s laughter died down, she told her, “You’re so cute, you know that… I can’t believe you actually fell for that.”</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Ughh…” Hope groaned in annoyance and then pouted while crossing her arms in front of her chest. “You’re so mean, Jo… I really got scared that you actually have amnesia and have forgotten me.”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I could never forget you, love…” Josie replied and smiled at Hope once again. The auburn-haired creative director then leaned in and gave her girlfriend a kiss on the lips. It wasn’t long because Hope was afraid that it might not be good for Josie. She didn’t want to cause her any pain. But thankfully, Josie was drugged with pain killers so she didn’t feel any. That’s why when Hope pulled back, her nose barely brushing against the other girl’s, Josie whispered, "It’s okay. Kiss me again.”</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>With a huge grin on her face, Hope then leaned in once again and began kissing her girlfriend with everything she had, as if it was for the last time. All those emotions that she kept bottled up inside for the past few weeks, she just… let go. “Damn, I missed you so much… I’m so happy that you’re alive,” Hope said with a low voice in between the kiss. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>When she pulled back a few minutes later, the two girls were staring at each other lovingly as if they had never seen anything so precious and beautiful before. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>I love you…” Josie then uttered, making Hope feel those familiar butterflies in her stomach. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I love you too,” she said back right after and then leaned in for the third time to give her girlfriend another kiss, one filled with all her love… </span></p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>
    <b>Epilogue</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <span>
    <b>[Two years later]</b>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“<span>How many pancakes do you want, babe?” Josie asked her girlfriend Hope who had entered the kitchen. It was eight o’clock in the morning and the auburn-haired girl didn’t really want to talk because it was early but for Josie, she’d do anything, so she replied, “Three, please.”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Coming right up!” the brunette said with excitement in her voice and began preparing the food. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Hope sat down on a chair and just kept looking at Josie who was holding the pan and thought that she looked so incredibly amazing like that. No wonder she was head chef at one of the best restaurants in Mystic Falls. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>A year or so after the two got together, Josie decided to close the grocery store and take some cooking classes. It turned out that the girl was a natural at this. How did she not figure out that cooking was her calling earlier, Hope didn’t know. Then Josie eventually got a job at a restaurant and everything was great. She could earn the money she had always wanted to support herself and pay Lizzie back for all her help when they were living together. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>I love having a girlfriend who’s a chef!” Hope happily said to Josie after the girl had finished making her pancakes and placed the plate in front of her on the table. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Head chef, babe!” Josie corrected her and Hope just chuckled before saying, “I’m sorry, cutie. I meant to say head chef. You’re special!”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Want me to show you how good I am with the chocolate syrup?” the brunette then moved behind Hope, the bottle of syrup in her hand, and whispered in the girl’s ear seductively. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Oh yes, please!” Hope replied in the same manner and Josie immediately took her hand, then pulled her from the chair to stand up. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Your pancakes are going to get cold, but I’ll just whip you up another batch. Don’t worry about that, love…” the brunette told Hope and then placed the bottle on the kitchen counter and put her hands behind the girl’s thighs. Afterwards, she lifted her up and made her sit on it, right next to the syrup, before she began to passionately kiss her. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>In between the make out session, Hope stretched her arms above her head so Josie could remove her top. When she did that as quick as she possibly could, she threw it somewhere on the ground without giving a fuck. The girl’s bra then suffered the same fate a few seconds later, leaving Hope naked with her breasts revealed, squirming underneath her girlfriend’s touch. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Josie’s hands immediately found the auburn-haired girl’s breasts and began playing with her nipples. Her mouth immediately afterwards moved to Hope’s neck and was sucking on her pulse point, making Hope moan in ecstasy. Josie loved driving her girlfriend crazy in the good sense of the word. A few seconds later, she grabbed the bottle of chocolate syrup and began squeezing it, the liquid falling all over Hope’s bare body. The auburn-haired girl moaned loudly and her body shook a little because the syrup was cold due to the fact that it had been in the fridge all night. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>These are in the way…” Josie then said, the smirk still on her face, and pulled Hope’s shorts along with her panties down to her ankles. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>The chocolate syrup made its way from Hope’s breasts, down her stomach and then went between her legs all over her most private area. Josie licked her lips as she watched the hot sight before her and couldn’t wait to lick every drop off of Hope’s body. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>When she leaned in, though, someone of course had to interrupt her and her girlfriend by ringing their doorbell. At first the two ignored it and continued doing what they were doing, but the damn person outside didn’t stop hitting the small black button and annoying them. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Go inside the bedroom. I’ll see who’s the douchebag at the door,” Josie told her girlfriend with a frustrated tone in her voice and sighed. Hope then did as she had been instructed and the brunette went to see who had interrupted them. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>When Josie opened the door, she was immediately greeted with Freya Mikaelson’s sad face. The brunette’s expression quickly shifted into a sympathetic one as soon as she saw her, all the annoyance and frustration disappearing just like that.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Oh no… What happened this time?” Josie asked the older woman and Freya just sighed as she waked inside the apartment and closed the door behind her. She then answered, “Keelin kicked me out because I let Chris fix our toaster… She said that it was her job to do it and not his. Why is she so damn jealous of him?” </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Uhmm, maybe because you two dated for a few months…” Josie stated the obvious and Freya sighed once again in frustration. This wasn’t the first time Keelin had kicked her out. She was doing it quite often whenever she gets pissed off at Freya and the woman would always come to her niece and Josie’s place because she had nowhere else to go. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I know but I left him because I realized that I’m a lesbian…” Freya then screamed in annoyance and sat down on the couch in the living room. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Everything will be okay like it usually is. Just give her time to cool off. Listen, why don’t you go to the guest room and make yourself at home? Half of your stuff is there already so you’re practically living her as well but yeah. Just go and relax…” Josie told the older woman and shooed her to the guest room so she could get back to Hope as fast as possible. Thank god that Freya nodded and did as she was told, making Josie scream internally in happiness.</span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>When the older woman hid away in the guest room, Josie grabbed the chocolate syrup once again and walked inside the bedroom to find Hope waiting for her on the bed, completely naked and the syrup still all over her bare body. Smirking, the brunette made her way towards the bed, ready to take Hope right then and there. Both of them were so horny that they didn’t give a fuck that Freya was in the guest room. When she took a few steps, though, something once again interrupted them… </span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>It was Josie’s phone this time because it had begun ringing loudly from inside her pocket. Sighing in frustration once again, the brunette took it out and saw that it was Lizzie that was calling. Annoyed, she answered and said, “What?” with a pissed off tone. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Geez, don’t tell me I interrupted you sexy time with Hope again…” Lizzie told her from the other line and rolled her eyes. “You two are a bunch of horny rabbits, you know that?”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I’m not gonna comment on that. What’s going on?” Josie just asked directly why her sister was calling her. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I just called because my hubby Rafael and I want to invite you and Hope for dinner tonight at our place. Are you up for it?” Lizzie asked the brunette and waited for her to give an answer. The blonde and Rafael got married right at the same time when Josie was taking those cooking classes and a year after that, Lizzie got pregnant, so they were expecting their first baby pretty soon. After the blonde helped Rafael recover from Landon’s suicide and they put everything behind them, they hadn’t broken up and were happier than ever. “MG and Kym are coming as well just so you know.”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Liz invites us for dinner…” Josie looked at Hope and told her what Lizzie had said. Her girlfriend nodded in agreement, confirming to Josie the fact that she’d like them to go. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Alright, we’ll come… Just tell those two to come later than us because Kym will eat all of those awesome chocolates that you keep stashed in your kitchen cupboard before me,” Josie told her sister, making Lizzie laugh out loud. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I can hide them if you want…”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Hmm… that’s not a bad idea actually. Yes, do that!” Josie agreed with the blonde and Lizzie laughed a second time at her twin’s silliness. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Kym was over Lizzie completely and had eyes only for MG. It was obviously a good idea that the two decided to give it a shot two years ago. Still, the boy continued to get jealous of Lizzie from time to time, but he’ll probably always be like that. The blonde was his girlfriend’s first big love, so it was only natural that he’d get jealous. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Oh and Wade and Alyssa are coming as well. We’re making this a special dinner to celebrate once again the fact that I’m pregnant,” Lizzie said after her laughter died down. “Be here at eight.” </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>Wade and Alyssa had become best friends after that party two years ago and were also both promoted at their jobs. The only people who didn’t have a happy ending were Dana and Maya because they continued gossiping about everyone and their friends all stopped communicating with them both, eventually forgetting that they actually exist. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Okay, we’ll be there. Bye, Liz!” Josie told her sister and then hung up. Smirking, she then began moving closer to Hope once again. “Now where were we?” she then said and hopped on the bed next to her girlfriend, both of them ready for some hot steamy sex before Lizzie’s dinner party…</span></p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"><a id="_GoBack" name="_GoBack"></a> <span>Hope and Josie had went through a lot ever since they met. Death, robbery, protests, rape, a painful tragic accident, but they managed to survive through it all. It was all because they had each other. From a cold-hearted bitch, Hope turned into this wonderful person all because of Josie. The brunette really did manage to soothe her aching heart and bring down the barriers that she had put up. Now, Hope wasn’t just doing clothes, alcohol and sex with style, but love also. She loved Josie with all her heart like she never had anyone else in her entire life. Still, doing everything with style ended up not mattering in the end, because when it came to finding her soul mate, to being successful and loved, Hope did that only one way – by being herself, even if she didn’t know it in the beginning. Being yourself is what’s most important in the end…</span></p>
<p class="western"> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Years later...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Double update! &lt;3 Enjoy! ^-^</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">5 YEARS LATER</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“<span>Hush little baby, don’t say a word…” Josie sang to her two beautiful babies and rocked the two cradles in which they were sleeping separately. “Momma’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.”</span></p>
<p class="western">They were absolutely beautiful and she felt so lucky to have them. Josie will forever cherish the day that she and Hope got to hold them in their arms for the first time - two gorgeous little girls, twins, Josie holding one and Hope the other. Since that moment or even before it, both of them knew that they would love these children for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p class="western">A few meters away stood Hope at the door frame, watching as the love of her life sang that lullaby to their babies, her voice so beautiful and angelic. The woman felt so grateful to have her and the two innocent human beings be a part of her life and she couldn’t imagine a world where they were not in it. Hope didn’t know what she’d ever do if she loses them. They’re her world…</p>
<p class="western">A loving smile crept on her face as she continued looking at Josie inside the half-lit room. The nursery looked beautiful even though the color of the pink-covered walls couldn’t really be seen due to the darkness being too strong and the light far too weak. Still, it looked amazing and Josie fit right in there with the babies. Both hers and Hope’s dreams had finally come true and they were genuinely happy at last. When it was just Josie and Hope a few years ago, they still felt like that, but there was always something missing. It was the fact that they didn’t have children. Now that they were blessed with these two beautiful little girls, you could finally say that their lives were complete. Thanks to the babies, they have a purpose, a goal to make them the happiest children in the whole entire world. Both Hope and Josie felt ecstatic, nervous and overwhelmed at the same time that they were part of a family in every sense of the word.</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>When the babies were finally asleep, Josie turned around and began walking towards Hope. There were smiles on both their faces because they could feel the happiness all around them. The tall brunette grabbed the handle of the door and closed it as she made her way out of the room while Hope took a few steps backwards to give her enough space. Josie then put her arm around her girl’s waist and they both proceeded towards the living-room where they’d usually spend a few hours after the babies fall asleep.</span>
</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>When they finally made their way to the couch, both of them sat down on it with Hope snuggling closer to Josie after their bodies hit the cushions. The auburn-haired creative director had her arms around her girlfriend’s body, her head resting on her chest, while Josie had one arm around the love of her life’s shoulders protectively. It felt nice, really really nice as both of them stood like that. </span>
</p>
<p class="western">The TV was turned on to some movie channel but neither of the two girls was watching it. The volume was turned down low as they were both talking about random things that happened to them during the day.</p>
<p class="western">“<span>The dog’s toy fell in the pool today,” Josie said and laughed a little, her chest moving up and down, making Hope lift her head up and look at her girlfriend. “I was going to get it but the damn animal beat me to it. It just jumped inside the pool and started paddling towards it. Can you believe that?”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Oh my god…” Hope then exclaimed and began laughing. She then buried her face in the other girl’s neck while tightening her embrace and pulling herself closer to her. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I love your laugh so much,” Josie just randomly told her out of nowhere. “Even after all this time, I still want to listen to it all the time. I could hear you laugh forever…”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>You’re so cheesy, Jo!” Hope then replied and rested her head on her girlfriend’s shoulders. Josie had the biggest grin on her face, of course, because of the auburn-haired girl’s words. She loved being cheesy like that with Hope.</span></p>
<p class="western">A few moments later, Hope fell asleep in Josie’s arms. It was typical of her because she was always the first one to doze off. It was eleven o’clock in the evening and plus, she had had a tiring day at work, so Josie didn’t blame her. Hope worked every single day for hours, while Josie had a couple of days off during the week. Whenever the two were both absent from home, they’d always call one of their friends to watch the babies.</p>
<p class="western">Josie carefully moved and tried as hard as she could to not wake the other girl up. She then gently put her arms under Hope’s body and lifted her up bridal style. After carrying her to their bedroom and placing her carefully on the bed, she put a blanket over her and tucked her in. Kissing her forehead, she then whispered, “Goodnight, beautiful.”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<hr/>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">10 YEARS LATER</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">The children were finally a little more grown up and both Hope and Josie felt even happier. Seeing their babies become toddlers and then children who started school is one of the best moments in their lives. Hope and Josie were so glad that they got to experience that without facing serious difficulties like money problems, diseases etc.</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Can we have some ice cream, please?” one of the twins asked with the cutest voice ever, making both women smile.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Sure, darling…” Hope said while nodding her head and smiling. Both girls then grabbed each of her hands and led her towards the ice cream booth not to far from them.</span></p>
<p class="western">It was some holiday and both Hope and Josie had the day off to spend with their kids. It was pretty nice because it was both of them this time. Usually only one of them at a time takes care of the children during the day or they ask some of their friends, Kym mostly, because she’s such a goofball who plays with them and they love her a lot. But still, at times the children miss both of their parents and wish they’d spend more time as a family. This holiday was the perfect opportunity for that.</p>
<p class="western">“<span>I want chocolate ice cream, please!” one of the twins happily exclaimed and then started jumping up and down.</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Me too, me too!” the other one added cheerfully and began doing the same thing as her sister. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Okay, okay… Calm down, girls!” Josie scolded them for being a bit overexcited. “Your mom will buy the ice cream for you, just be patient.”</span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>But we’re so happy! We want to jump around!” the twins said in unison, making Hope, Josie and the guy who sells ice cream all laugh at how cute they are. </span></p>
<p class="western">
  <span>
    <em>Why did I even try to get them to calm down?! </em>
  </span>
  <span> Josie thought and sighed afterwards as she continued looking at her hyped up children. </span>
  <span>
    <em>Still, they’re so damn adorable…</em>
  </span>
</p>
<p class="western">The rest of the day went pretty well. The kids ate their ice cream cones, they played around on the swings, slides and whatever other things the park had to offer while Hope and Josie just sat on a bench and were talking about random stuff or looking at them, feeling happy and blessed to have such wonderful children. When it was finally time to go, they all got inside the family car with Josie in the driver’s seat.</p>
<p class="western">
  <span>On the way home, the brunette decided to stop by some store and buy the children presents. Hope was against it at first because she felt as if they were spoiling them way too much because they were giving them absolutely everything they desired, but when she looked at their adorable and filled with joy faces, she said to herself, “Oh whatever… We have only two children. They deserve the world.”</span>
</p>
<p class="western">The family walked inside the toy store and immediately, the children began running around it, looking through all the awesome stuff that it offered. Hope and Josie smiled at the sight because it was absolutely one of the cutest things they’d ever seen.</p>
<p class="western">“<span>Ohhh, this is so cool!” one of the twins exclaimed as her eyes fell on a toy basketball hoop with a small orange ball. She was really the sporty type while her sister disliked anything related to sports and was more into fashion and dresses, like Hope. She was the typical girly girl. It was adorable how the twins were so alike and yet extremely different at the same time. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>I love this doll! Mommy, can I have it, pretty please!” the other twin said with awe in her voice and Hope chuckled as soon as she heard her daughter’s words. </span></p>
<p class="western">“<span>Of course, darling! You can have anything you want!” the woman told her with a loving voice and the girl immediately gave her a hug while saying “Thank you!” over and over again. </span></p>
<p class="western">After they finished shopping for toys, the family got back into their car and Josie started driving towards their house. Everyone was satisfied because the children got whatever they wanted from the store and the parents felt happy due to the fact that they had fulfilled their daughters’ wishes.</p>
<p class="western">The drive home wasn’t that long thankfully. When they arrived, Josie parked the car in the driveway and as soon as everyone got out of it, the children happily began jumping and running towards the entrance to their house. When they got there, they began yelling and waving in front of the door for their parents to hurry up. Josie took out the bags full of toys from the trunk and then she and Hope did as their children wanted. As soon as the front door was unlocked and opened, the children both ran inside impatiently and couldn’t wait to play with their toys before going to bed.</p>
<p class="western">Hope and Josie watched the sweet girls with smiles on their faces. They were so happy and satisfied with this life they had. Everything felt so unreal, like a wonderful dream, but it wasn’t.</p>
<p class="western">This was reality…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So... this is it guys, the end of the story. I hope you all enjoyed it! &lt;3 </p>
<p>Thank you all so much for following this story, leaving comments and kudos! &lt;3 You guys are the best! ^-^</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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